TWISTER (Terrestrial Wireless Infrastructure integrated with Satellite Telecommunications for E-Rural) is one of the first Integrated Projects to be funded under FP6 and positions EADS Astrium and its partners as active players in bridging the Digital Divide in Europe.

The project will mobilise some of Europe's leading expertise in the area with an overall budget of MEUR 8.5, of which MEUR 5 will be funded by the European Commission.

The generalised availability of broadband access at competitive prices is seen by the European Commission as a key enabler for modern public services such as e-government, e-learning, e-health, and for a dynamic business environment.

Satellite telecommunication-based solutions are particularly suited to bringing such services to citizens in rural areas and have the potential to provide access to millions of users throughout Europe, using interactive broadband terminals for a range of applications, whether mobile, fixed or broadcasting.

The objective of the TWISTER project is to support the development and widespread adoption of bi-directional satellite broadband services combined with wireless (WiFi) local networks to achieve a seamless broadband coverage in rural areas.

The TWISTER project commences on 1 February 2004 and will deploy and operate over a period of 3 years more than 100 validation sites throughout Europe (Spain, France, Sweden, Poland, Greece, Malta, ...). These validation sites will support innovative applications to meet the specific needs of rural user communities in the domains of agriculture, education, community services, health care and e-business. Emphasis will be placed on the development of those usages that will benefit most from broadband access.

The TWISTER consortium led and coordinated by EADS Astrium (broadband infrastructure integrator) consists of twelve complementary partners including one of the world's leading satellite operators, a pan-European satellite service provider, leading satellite and wireless equipment and solution providers, universities and research institutes as well as users, covering most of the telecommunications value chain. The companies and organisations involved come from seven different European countries, making the TWISTER project truly European in scope.

TWISTER Consortium
EADS Astrium is a worldwide leader in satellite telecommunications and has been involved in a wide range of system studies and developments for broadband satellite systems.

Aramiska is a pan-European service provider that offers the first commercial broadband satellite services in Europe using a two-way open-standards based satellite system.

Eutelsat is one of the world's leading satellite operators. Eutelsat's satellites are used for video broadcasting, video network services, corporate network solutions, broadband services and mobile communications.

CNES is the French Space Agency and has developed a wide range of competencies and tools for the design and validation of next generation satellite telecommunication systems.

Aneto (France) is an SME specialised in the engineering, integration and deployment of wireless network infrastructures.

Picopoint (The Netherlands) offers back-office & roaming solutions for public WLAN providers, delivering services such as authentication, authorisation, accounting & network monitoring.

NERA (Norway) is an electronics group specialised in the design, development, manufacture and marketing of satellite earth stations and microwave radio relay systems.

Cemagref (France) is a scientific institute for agricultural and environmental research with an extensive experience in remote sensing, GIS, quality and food safety as well as traceability.

Warsaw University of Technology (Poland), Institute of Telecommunications is a well known knowledge and consulting center for Polish Telecom operators and other companies

University of Malta is the only university in Malta and will coordinate the assessment and validation of hybrid satellite-wireless solutions for educational purposes.

DPZ (Spain), Public Administration for the province of Zaragoza, has a large experience in deploying broadband access solutions over the rural areas.

ICS-FORTH (Greece), Center of Medical Informatics and Health Telematics Applications, has created the first regional health care network in Greece.

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