NBN Co signs deal to develop business-grade satellite services

NBN Co today has signed a deal with global remote communication and IT solutions company, Speedcast International Limited, to deliver wholesale business and enterprise satellite services to regional and remote Australia.

NBN Co has enlisted Speedcast’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Speedcast Managed Services Pty Ltd, to develop wholesale business-grade satellite broadband services using the nbn™ Sky Muster™ satellite platform.

The contract is expected to span 10 years and is valued at $AU184 million. It will involve the design, build and management of the network and service operation of the new platform.

NBN Co’s two Sky Muster™ satellites, which launched in October 2015 and October 2016 respectively, have been designed to provide access to 240,000 active services in regional and remote Australia. Currently, there are approximately 84,000 active Sky Muster™ services and growing at a rate of approximately 1,000 activations per month.

The provision of wholesale business-grade services over the Sky Muster™ satellites has been a part of NBN Co’s product roadmap since 2014. It will be complementary to NBN Co’s existing retail Sky Muster™ satellite offering and will not impact residential services.

It is anticipated enterprise-level services will be available by early 2019.