Cable & Wireless Plc’s Mercury Communications Ltd has joined forces with AT&T Co’s AT&T Tridom in Marietta, Georgia to build a trial satellite network for data transmission in Europe. The trial, scheduled to begin this quarter is to help determine the operational and economic feasibility of interactive very small aperture terminal network services in Europe. Like two-way satellite television dishes, very small aperture terminals are earthstations at customer sites capable of sending as well as receiving data communications via satellite. Terminals will be installed under the agreement in co-operation with the appropriate PTTs so that if one of the more luddite continental PTTs says no dice, that country will have to be eliminated from the experiment. Mercury will provide satellite access for the trial and be responsible for the administration of the transmission service, arranging for capacity on a Eutelsat satellite, and will manage ground station facilities at its hub earth station in London. AT&T Tridom will run the network and will provide the remote earthstations with joint responsibility for installation and maintenance with Mercury.
