France has launched a new satellite which will shortly open up high broadband speeds for many households in rural areas of the country.

The Ka-Sat satellite was launched on 26th December 2010, and is scheduled to be operational in May.

It is the first dedicated satellite for internet services, promising download speeds of up to 10Mps and upload speeds of 1Mps.

These speeds will mean that households should be able to obtain voice over internet (VoIP) without the need to subscribe to a fixed line telephone service.

At the present time, the best that can be achieved by internet surfers using a satellite system is around 3.6 Mps download and only 512 Kbits upload.

The main providers of satellite offers in France - Numéo, SHD, Sat2Way, Alsatis, Axione and Connexion verte – will be making the offer available to their clients for around €30 per month.

Priority for the service will be given to around 300,000 households in France who are not currently able to receive broadband internet, mainly in rural and mountain areas.

Over the next few years the government has committed around €2 billion for investment internet services to ensure that the whole country is property served by high speed connection, whether by cable, satellite or fibre optic lines.