NBN broadband satellites please farmers

8 Feb 2012, 6:35 pm   -   Source: AAP
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Space Systems/Loral will supply two satellites to provide high-speed broadband to areas in remote Australia. (File AAP)

Space Systems/Loral will supply two satellites to provide high-speed broadband to areas in remote Australia. (File AAP)

Two satellites to be launched in 2015 will give Australians in remote areas broadband access on par with cities, the federal government says.

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The federal government's plan to buy two satellites to provide high-speed broadband services to the nation's most remote areas has pleased farmers, but the opposition says it's too costly.

Labor on Wednesday announced a $620 million deal between NBN Co, the government-owned enterprise rolling out the national broadband network (NBN), and US firm Loral Space and Communications to make the Ka-band satellites.

When they are launched in 2015, around 200,000 homes and businesses in the remotest regions will have access to internet download speeds similar to those currently available in urban centres.

"We won't be leaving those Australians who live in the remotest parts of the nation behind," Prime Minister Julia Gillard told reporters in Canberra.

Under the $35.9 billion NBN project, fibre-optic cable delivering high-speed broadband services will be rolled out to 93 per cent of Australia's 13 million homes, schools and businesses by 2021.

Fixed wireless technology will provide high-speed internet to four per cent of premises, and the remaining three per cent will be supplied by the two satellites to remote areas.

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said the satellites would give users affordable world-class broadband connections to be paid for by cross-subsidies built into the NBN plan.

"It ensures remote families and business pay the same entry-level wholesale price for services in the city," the senator said.

"Using these satellites, rural businesses can make it easier to expand in national and international markets."

The new satellites would be launched separately, the first one by March 2015 and the second one six months later.

The National Farmers' Federation said the plan was a "very positive" development for rural communications.

"We're looking forward to the day when all Australians have equal access to telecommunications - and we will work with government to ensure that the commitment made today is upheld and delivered," NFF president Jock Laurie said in a statement.

But opposition communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull described the plan as expensive, comparing it to buying a top-of-the-line luxury car when it wasn't needed.

"Don't buy yourself a Camry, a Falcon - buy yourself a Rolls-Royce, a Bentley," he told reporters.

"Nothing but the best will do, nothing but the most expensive will do."

Mr Turnbull said the telecommunications industry had told him there was enough capacity on existing and scheduled-to-be-launched satellites to provide broadband services to rural and remote Australia.

He also queried why the existing interim satellite service could not be upgraded to a permanent one.

Senator Conroy dismissed reports an Australian company had missed out on the contract, saying no local company had the capacity to build the satellites, which will be made in the US.

The hardware will deliver initial peak speeds of 12 megabytes per second downloading and one megabyte a second uploading.

"It will be possible for retail service providers to offer services to homes and businesses in the satellite footprint that are as good or better than the services many city people currently experience," NBN Co chief Mike Quigley said.

The satellite contract is part of a total investment of about $2 billion over 15 years required to deliver the NBN long-term satellite service.

The opposition is opposed to the existing NBN plan and prefers a mix of technologies to achieve its own version.

But Mr Turnbull acknowledged contracts such as the satellite deal could be hard to cancel if the coalition wins the next election in 2013.

"They are putting contracts in place and we may have to live with it," Mr Turnbull said.

The NBN is due to be completed by 2021.

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