By Telecom
Lead Team: Space Systems/Loral, a provider of commercial satellites, has won a
contract to provide two high throughput communications satellites that will be
used to deliver high speed broadband service to rural and remote areas of
Australia.
The
satellites will be operated by NBN which will implement the Australian
government initiative to provide access to broadband to households and
businesses via a national network that will utilize fiber, wireless and
satellite technologies.
“Today,
access to the internet is crucial for education, safety, and economic
development. Satellite is a highly cost-effective solution for providing
high-speed connectivity over broad geographic areas and the Australian
government has demonstrated visionary thinking in looking to satellite as one
of the three chosen technologies to deliver service to every part of the
nation,” said John Celli, president of Space Systems/Loral.
The two
satellites, NBN Co 1A and 1B, are both Ka-band, high-throughput broadband
satellites that use multiple spot beams in an advanced design that tailors
capacity to Australia’s vastly distributed population. When launched in 2015,
the satellites will provide service to some of the most remote places in
Australia, as well as its coastal islands and external territories including
Norfolk Island, Cocos Island, Christmas Island and Macquarie Island in the
Antarctic.
“This
announcement is a significant step towards reducing the digital divide between
Australians living in urban areas and those living in the most geographically
isolated regions. Rural and remote communities can now look forward to
receiving enhanced broadband connectivity that will assist them in accessing the
types of business, health, education and government services that people in
metropolitan areas take for granted, ” said Mike Quigley, chief executive
officer of NBN Co.
The
satellites for NBN Co are based on the SS/L 1300 platform which leads the
industry in reliability and has been optimized to provide enhanced performance
and capacity distribution for broadband missions. The satellites are designed
to provide service for 15 years or more.
The contract
award also includes satellite control facilities, support for system capacity
planning and optimization, systems to manage satellite operations, and
end-to-end systems integration support.
