Australia - Telecoms - High-speed satellite services

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Last updated: 19 Aug 2013 Update History

Report Status: Archived

Report Pages: 17

Analyst: Paul Budde

Synopsis

This report was archived in June 2015.

There are around 30 companies in Australia providing hybrid satellite-based Internet access and related data distribution services using the same technology. It was not until the late 1990s that large-scale satellite TV started to arrive, thanks to AUSTAR, but as that is only based on pay TV it certainly is nowhere near a superhighway.

The previous Federal Government broadband subsidy scheme Australian Broadband Guarantee commenced a surge in broadband connections in regional and rural Australia. The current Labor government continued this ABG initiative until mid-2011 when the new scheme as part of the National Broadband Network (NBN) started. Eventually the NBN aims to provide high-speed satellite services to the 3% of Australian premises that will be unable to connect to the Fibre-to-the-Home rollout.

Providing high-speed satellite services at speeds of 12Mb/s to the 200,000 premises unable to connect to the NBN will eventually require new generation KA-band satellites. While the NBN Co had many satellite (domestic and international) operators putting up their services for contention only seven are in the first release. The release of interim satellite providers was announced in mid-2011 (see chapter 5.2). Optus intends to launch a new satellite Optus 10, planning to use the Ku-band service. SingTel in mid-2013 prepared for a sale of Optus Satellite, with a view to raising up to $2 billion which would be reinvested in other infrastructure assets and upgrades.

While services such as WiFi, mobile broadband, increased ADSL coverage and fibre services are penetrating further into the market the need for satellite remains. In mid-2011 the Interim Satellite Scheme by NBN Co Australian Broadband Guarantee scheme had changes to the eligibility criteria as a result of the further reach of ‘metro-comparable’ services over the past few years.

In this report we provide an overview of the high-speed satellite services market providing background information on the major players. We also provide information and updates on the trends and developments in the market.

Key developments:

NBN Co reaching ISS capacity and stops taking on new satellite subscribers; Optus contracted for two Ka-band satellites; SingTel suspends plans to sell Optus Satellite division; IPSTAR using extra capacity to develop the corporate sector; Optus 10 satellite nears launch date; report includes details on Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT), Demand Assigned Multiple Access (DAMA, Single channel per carrier (SCPC), as Frame Relay, Dedicated Digital Networks (DDN), DVB-S2; includes market developments to March 2014.

Companies covered in this report include:

Companied mentioned in this report include – AUSTAR, FOXTEL, Optus, iPSTAR, OTC, NBN Co, Gilat, Telstra, Aussat, BorderNet, iHug, SES NEW SKIES, NewSat Limited, Shin Satellite, Inmarsat, Orion Satellite Systems, Clear Networks, Harbour IT, SkyMesh, Activ8Me, ReachNet.

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