Hylas 1, a satellite created by European Space Agency and satellite operator Avanti, will be launched on Friday with an intention to offer high-quality broadband and a series of telecommunications services.

Hylas 1 is the first European satellite that is dedicated to providing broadband services. The new satellite technology is expected to provide as many as 20 million Europeans who are devoid of high-quality broadband access.

In addition to providing broadband services, the satellite will gradually include other communications applications such as data distribution services and HDTV broadcasting.

The new satellite will make use of the KA-band that is located at the microwave band’s very low end, with frequencies of about 20GHz which will help it remain immune to weather or latency issues.

Speaking on the topic, Avanti CEO David Williams said, “Operating at a higher frequency means you can cram in more data so you get faster broadband services.”

Hylas 1, which will cover most of European countries but not Scandinavian countries, is capable of delivering speeds of up to 200Mbps, but initially it will offer speeds of up to 10Mbps.

The Hylas 1 project, which started in December 2005, will become operational in the first quarter of 2011.