NBN satellites to service remote areas

Two satellite launches in 2015 will bring high-speed broadband to outback Australia.

Australians in rural and remote areas are a step closer to receiving high-speed broadband with the announcement that Arianespace, the European satellite launch company, has been selected to propel Australia’s National Broadband Network satellites into space. The contract, worth up to $300 million, was awarded following a comprehensive two-year procurement process.

The satellites will allow access to fast internet to up to 200,000 homes, farms and businesses in remote parts of the country at speeds people in the city currently take for granted.

NBN Co Chief Executive Officer Mike Quigley said: “The NBN satellite service is key to bridging the divide between the city and the bush. It will give people in the outback, remote regions and Australia’s overseas territories access to economic and social opportunities that the rest of us take for granted. For instance, faster speeds will allow people in regional communities to work from home like they would from the office, access video-based health services and make high-quality video calls to family and friends.

Two purpose-built communications satellites, currently under construction in California by Space Systems/Loral, will lift off aboard two 777-tonne Ariane 5 heavy-lift rockets which will deliver the payloads into geostationary orbit.

The two launches from Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana, situated on the equator on the North Atlantic coast of South America, are scheduled during 2015.

“NBN Co’s satellites have been designed to deliver initial peak speeds of 12/1 Mbps at the wholesale level for the same wholesale access price as similar fibre services,” said Quigley. “It will be possible for retail service providers to offer services to homes and businesses in the satellite footprint that are as good or better than the services many city people currently experience.”