April 29, 2016:
Federal Member for O’Connor Rick Wilson is excited to announce that NBN’s
Sky Muster satellite network has been successfully launched today.
Residents living in regional and rural areas in O’Connor can now start connecting to
affordable, high-speed broadband.
“Being able to access fast internet in remote parts of my electorate is extremely important
and I am delighted the Turnbull Government has delivered on its commitment to launch the Sky Muster service early this year,” Mr Wilson said.
“As a Katanning farmer, I know how frustrating slow internet speeds are and I’m delighted rural and regional people in O’Connor will now be able to access an excellent service.
“The launch of Sky Muster will change the lives of people in O’Connor, where an estimated 24,505 homes and businesses are eligible to access the service.
“This is more people than any other electorate in Western Australia, so the demand here is huge.
“Residents can connect to the service if they are outside of NBN’s fixed line and fixed wireless coverage areas.
“The Sky Muster satellite is based on modern technology and is on a different band to the short term satellite service.”
Mr Wilson said the Sky Muster service would offer download speeds of up to 25 Megabits per second (Mbps) and upload speeds of up to 5 Mbps, which is faster than a typical ADSL service.
“The Australian Government has invested $2 billion in two advanced Ka-band satellites and a network of ground stations that make up the Sky Muster service,” Mr Wilson said.
The new high-speed broadband service is a practical example of the Turnbull Government’s plan to successfully transition Australia’s economy and to create more jobs.
Each service requires a professional installation of a new receiver dish and indoor modem.
“Many homes and businesses in O’Connor are still subject to very basic internet access which makes even online banking or emailing difficult. Sky Muster will change all that for thousands of Australians,” Mr Wilson said.
Equal priority will be given to new customers and current NBN Interim Satellite Service users migrating to Sky Muster. Around 5,000 users per month will be connected in the early stages of the rollout and this will increase to 10,000 installations per month later this year.
More than 600 installers have been fully trained and are expected to reach on average one to two premises per day when accounting for safety measures and extended traveling times.
A variety of different broadband plans are available from providers and pricing compares favourably with current international and local commercial satellite and mobile internet plans.
The launch of NBN’s commercial satellite service is delivering the Government’s commitment to bring high-speed broadband to rural and regional Australia.
For more information on eligibility and retailers, visit:
www.nbnco.com.au
or freecall nbn on 1800 687 626