Ovum: nbn will deliver world leading satellite broadband service to Australians

In its new report Satellite Broadband: A Global Comparison telecoms research firm Ovum† has announced that the nbn Sky Muster™ satellite broadband service will be a world leader in the satellite broadband market.

The $1.8 billion Sky Muster™ service will help bridge the digital divide by enabling fast broadband access for up to 400,000 Australian premises including rural, regional and remote areas.*

In the report Ovum examined 18 retail service providers internationally that offer satellite broadband services and compared their performance to retail plans available to Sky Muster^TM end-users on a combination of peak data allowance, download speed and affordability (price per GB of data).+

“Sky Muster’s excellent technical performance combined with strong retail affordability makes nbn’s satellite broadband service a world leader,” Ovum says in the report (see chart).

“nbn’s Sky Muster™ service will be a major step change for internet access for regional and remote Australians over the alternatives that have been available to date.”

With value for money a key factor for Australian end-users the Ovum report says that the prices charged by Retail Service Providers (RSPs) for nbn’s Sky Muster^TM 25/5Mbps and 12/1Mbps services will offer great options to eligible residents and businesses.**

“Retail plans based on nbn’s satellite broadband service are world leading in terms of both performance and affordability,” Ovum says.

“On an affordability basis, retail plans based on nbn’s Sky Muster^TM service are available at close to the best global pricing on a price per GB basis across the benchmarked operators. There are also a range of good entry level plans available.”

John Simon, Chief Customer Officer at nbn said:

“The nbn Sky Muster™ satellite service will make a truly transformational difference to rural and remote Australians as we offer some of the world’s fastest and largest consumer satellite broadband plans to remote and isolated areas of Australia,” he said.

 “Broadband is essential for modern living.  People in remote and isolated parts of the country will be better able to run their businesses, learn, stay in touch with friends and family and access new tele-health services online.  Australia is a uniquely vast country, making online connections increasingly critical. ”

* The nbn™ Sky Muster™ satellite service is designed to deliver wholesale broadband speeds of up to 25 Mbps download and up to 5 Mbps upload depending on the plan you select and some other factors. Your experience including the speeds actually achieved over the nbn™ network depends on the technology over which services are delivered to your premises and some factors outside our control like your equipment quality, software, broadband plans, signal reception and how your service provider designs its network.

** Internet service providers will provide retail plans at different price points and data allowances, so eligible resident and businesses can choose a plan that best suits their needs. Contact your preferred internet service provider about a plan to best suit your needs.

† The Satellite Broadband: A Global Comparison report by Ovum was commissioned by nbn

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Click here to read a blog on the Sky Muster satellite service and access the full Ovum Report