NBN launches second broadband satellite

Alex Choros - Managing Editor + Group Telco Editor

Last updated 06 October 2016

NBN today successfully launched its second broadband satellite - Sky Muster II - into orbit this morning. The launch was originally scheduled for yesterday, but was delayed due to adverse weather conditions

Working in tandem with the first Sky Muster satellite, the pair will be responsible for providing fast broadband access to approximately 400,000 homes and businesses across regional and rural Australia. Many of these areas currently have limited internet connectivity, or in some cases, none at all.

"Today’s successful launch of Sky Muster II marks the next step in delivering our world-leading satellite broadband service," said NBN CEO Bill Morrow. "This service is already helping to improve healthcare outcomes by connecting remote patients to city specialists, delivering access to a new world of educational opportunities for kids in the bush and increasing productivity for local small businesses. We are ensuring that no Australian is left behind by providing access to fast broadband for those who need it the most."

NBN customers connected via the Sky Muster satellite service expect download speeds of up to 25Mbps, and upload speeds of up to 5Mbps.

While approximately 3% of Australians will connect to the National Broadband Network via satellite, concerns have been raised as to how reliable the service will be after all customers are connected to it.

The two Sky Muster satellites will have a combined capacity of 135Gbps, which itself is a large increase when compared to the 4Gbps interim satellite first used by NBN. However, this would equate to speeds of 0.3Mbps if all 400,000 homes and businesses served by Sky Muster were connected simultaneously.

Morrow has however said that not everyone will use the service at the same time, and that he is confident that the network will be able to deliver its promised speeds.

Alex Choros

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Alex Choros is the Managing Editor of WhistleOut Australia and an award-winning journalist. He's been writing about consumer technology for over a decade and is an expert on the Australian telco sector, to the point where he knows far too many phone and internet plans by heart. In addition to leading the WhistleOut editorial team, Alex is responsible for ruining the office Sonos with his troubled taste in music.

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