News

Interim Satellite Service to end this month

Beef Central, 17/02/2017

Rural and remote Australians still receiving internet through the old Interim Satellite Service are being urged to contact their local Sky Muster provider or NBN Co to switch across to the new Sky Muster Satellite.

The Interim Satellite Service will be switched off on February 28.

“Residents need to contact their Sky Muster provider or NBN Co and mention they’re moving across from the old Interim Satellite Service,” Minister for Regional Communications Fiona Nash said.

“Even if the area you’re in will eventually be covered by the fixed wireless or fibre to the node network, if you’re currently on the Interim Satellite Service then you’ll need to switch to Sky Muster in the meantime.

“Installation of the new satellite equipment is at no change, and if you later switch to the fixed wireless or fibre to the node network, there will be no charge for that installation either.”

Minister Nash said many people had complained about the old Interim Satellite Service, which charged much more for very little data.

“I’ve spoken to many people who mistakenly thought they were on the new Sky Muster satellite when in fact they’re on the old Interim Satellite Service created by the former Labor Government. In some cases, Sky Muster has been mistakenly criticised by people who were in fact on the old satellite service, not on Sky Muster.

“Sky Muster is many times faster than the old service – up to 25 megabits a second – whereas the old satellite was between 1 and 5 megabits a second.

“An internet search for Sky Muster plans will show most plans begin at $35 a month. A mid-range plan of $55 a month will get you 40 gigabytes of peak data plus another 80 gigabytes off peak.”

In one month during peak times, a 30 GB Sky Muster satellite plan would allow a customer to to watch up to ten movies plus spend up to 150 hours web surfing plus listen to 80 hours of internet radio.

More than 60,000 homes and businesses are now connected to Sky Muster.

The end of the old ISS comes as NBN Co announces four million Australian homes and businesses, or one third of all premises, can now access high-speed broadband using the National Broadband Network.

For enquiries about migrating to the NBN, Sky Muster, equipment installation, or if you use a satellite broadband service supported by NBN Co and you’re unsure if it has been transferred to Sky Muster, please contact your internet service provider or NBN on 1800 726 434.

Source: Minister for Regional Communications

 

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