THE federal government will launch a new NBN satellite from French Guiana on October 1, to help deliver super-fast broadband to remote areas of Australia.
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The satellite has the potential to service more than 7000 Tasmanian premises, as part of the 200,000 premises to be covered across the nation.
The infrastructure will be used to deliver 25 megabit per-second connections to NBN clients, and will help the Bass Strait Islands and West Coast communities in particular, according to Tasmanian NBN corporate affairs manager Russell Kelly.
‘‘This is a welcome announcement and means Tasmanians in remote areas can look forward to faster and more reliable broadband internet,’’ Mr Kelly said.
‘‘Tasmania will also have the southern-most reach of the NBN in Australia – with the satellite footprint as far south as Macquarie Island.’’
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull said a second satellite would be launched later next year to meet any capacity demands.
‘‘These next-generation ka-band satellites will deliver world-class performance and peak speeds of up to 25 megabits per second, regardless of where people live,’’ Mr Turnbull said.
‘‘This means that Australians living in rural and regional areas will have access to a satellite service much better than they currently experience.’’
