Satellites can bring a level of connectivity to Poland now...

Satellites can bring a level of connectivity to Poland now that land-based broadband facilities won’t achieve that until after 2014, the European Satellite Operators’ Association said Tuesday. The nation faces digital exclusion of millions of households and yet only around 10 percent of total funding for long-range programs has been committed for broadband access development, Poland’s regulator found. The situation calls for an immediate review of priorities and goals to speed up connection of Polish citizens, ESOA Chairman Christodoulos Protopapas said. ESOA’s position was backed by Danuta Hübner, who heads the European Parliament regional policy committee, and urged governments to be open to satellite-based solutions, ESOA said. The Polish government has now established a task force to push awareness of and consideration of satellite technology for EU-co-financed projects aimed at bringing broadband to rural areas, ESOA said.