Rural and regional Australians are set to benefit from NBN Co’s Sky Muster satellite service, which promises them a bigger slice of broadband data and higher speeds. NBN Co has revealed that it is preparing to launch a family of new satellite services that will potentially support burst speeds in excess of the base 25 megabits per second download.
The company said that, under new plans, the use of the essential Internet will no longer be counted towards monthly data allowances. This includes services such as e-mail, general Web browsing and critical software updates.
Use of other Web traffic, however, including streaming video and online gaming, will continue to be subject to monthly data allowances.
The new Sky Muster Plus product is scheduled to be available next year for eligible users in NBN Co’s satellite network footprint.
Last year, the company doubled the maximum monthly wholesale data limits on Sky Muster satellite services (from 150GB to 300GB per month) and also increased the average peak data allowance that phone and Internet providers can offer to users by 50 per cent, from 30 to 45GB.
NBN Co chief executive Stephen Rue said yesterday: “Our Sky Muster satellite service is an essential part of the NBN rollout that not only helps to provide homes and businesses not only helps to provide homes and businesses with access to fast broadband services, but also the tools to help unlock social and economic prosperity in all our regions.
“The new Sky Muster Plus product is designed to give regional and rural Australians peace of mind, knowing that essential Internet services, like e-mailing loved ones or accessing Internet banking, should not slow down if their monthly data limit has been exceeded.”