NBN co announces agreement over satellite services

According to reports NBN Co has now announced an agreement with Optus to provide Internet Satellite Services as part of the NBN rollout.

According to recent reports NBN Co, the company heading up the National Broadband Network rollout in Australia, has announced an agreement with Optus worth up to two hundred million dollars. The agreement is for the provision of an Interim Satellite Service, which will form part of the NBN rollout.

The announcement was welcomed by the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Senator Stephen Conroy. According to reports in addition to the contract with Optus there is a second contract that has been signed with IPStar for additional satellite capacity. This is thought to be worth around one hundred million dollars.

Conroy said: “Today’s announcement is an important milestone in the delivery of improved broadband to regional, rural and remote Australia. The Interim Satellite Service is an exciting next step in the rollout of the NBN that will allow tens of thousands of underserved Australians the opportunity to access fast and affordable broadband at speeds they have never before had available to them. The new service represents a substantial improvement in speed and performance over satellite services currently available under the Australian Broadband Guarantee.”

He also said that the Interim Satellite Service would provide a wholesale broadband service to retail service providers as a replacement to the current Australian Broadband Guarantee (ABG) program. He stated: “The ABG has provided an effective safety net for Australians unable to get an adequate broadband service. However, the ABG was not designed to deliver the step change in performance required to bring forward enhanced services to rural, remote and regional Australia. The NBN Co Interim Satellite Service is the first step in bringing about this change ahead of the long term satellite launch in 2015.”

Source – DBCDE