Media Release - Generational LEOsat partnership must deliver for regional Australians
ACCAN
Peak communications consumer body ACCAN welcomes this morning’s announcement of a partnership between NBN Co and Amazon’s Project Kuiper to deliver Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite broadband to hard-to-serve communities across Australia, replacing the ageing Sky Muster satellites.
The partnership, which will see LEOsat broadband services rolled out from next year, promises to bring city-quality internet to up to 300,000 households and businesses in regional, rural, and remote areas.
ACCAN CEO Carol Bennett said that while such a promise is welcome, the transition to NBN LEOsat broadband must be effectively managed through close consultation with regional, rural and remote communities and consumer advocates.
“The announcement today represents a significant step forward in delivering faster, more reliable and most importantly more affordable satellite broadband to Australian consumers.”
“Regional, rural and remote communities are no strangers to transitioning to new technologies, having most recently been impacted by the 3G switch-off, and historically transitioned from NBN’s initial interim-satellite solution to Sky Muster, but we need to learn from the challenges of these transitions,” Ms Bennett said.
ACCAN supports the establishment of a Ministerial roundtable to ensure that all stakeholders can engage effectively as part of this historical transition. The leadership of the government throughout the 3G shutdown process significantly improved industry engagement with consumers and should be replicated in the LEOsat broadband transition.
ACCAN looks forward to engaging with NBN Co on further details regarding their proposed approach to satellite services, which form a key component of NBN’s replacement module application (RMA). The RMA process requires NBN Co to engage with consumer advocacy groups on key areas of forecast expenditure, with engagement on future satellite services being critical for regional, rural and remote consumers.
“In the context of rapidly evolving services, it is critical to ensure that engagement on new service offerings keeps pace and continues to evolve to ensure that the views of consumers are brought to bear through the RMA process and beyond,” Ms Bennett concluded
ACCAN looks forward to engaging in these discussions now and into the future and will work to ensure consumers are able to access an affordable and reliable broadband service regardless of where they live.
About us:
The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) is Australia’s peak communication consumer organisation. The operation of ACCAN is made possible by funding provided by the Commonwealth of Australia under section 593 of the Telecommunications Act 1997. This funding is recovered from charges on telecommunications carriers.
Contact details:
Alec Bennetts
Mobile: 0409 966 931
Email: [email protected]
