Synopsis
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 May 2011. In July 2011 the new scheme as part of the National Broadband Network (NBN) commenced. 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 May 2011 with services available from July 2011, (see chapter 5.2). Optus intends to launch a new satellite Optus 10, but it is planned to be use the Ku-band service when it is launched in 2014/15.
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.
Technologies mentioned
Technologies mentioned in this report include – Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT), Demand Assigned Multiple Access (DAMA, Single channel per carrier (SCPC), as Frame Relay, Dedicated Digital Networks (DDN), DVB-S2.
Companied mentioned
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.
