iiNet, Ipstar to retail NBN Co satellite service
30 November 2011
Broadband provider iiNet and Thailand-headquartered satellite operator Ipstar have both signed up as retail providers of NBN Co’s satellite service. The two companies are expected to be ready to offer the NBN satellite service early in the new year.
And in a further blurring of service lines, Brisbane-based carrier Skymesh – one of the first two ISPs to trial NBN Co’s interim satellite service – will soon be offering fibre services on the NBN, initially in Queensland but with plans tofollow shortly in NSW, Victoria and Tasmania.
The moves come as NBN Co transitions tothe second release of its interim satellite service, which willprovide it with the capacity to activate 1000 end users per month, compared to only 300 under the first release. The first connections under the second release service have been made this week.
NBN Co's interim satellite service was launched in July following a trial with service providers Skymesh and Harbour IT. In the first release service from July through November, seven RSPs were signed up to offer services: Activ8me, ANT, Bordernet, Clear Networks, Harbour IT, Reachnet and Skymesh.
iiNet and Ipstar are the first providers to sign up under the second release phase, which will see capacity for up to 20 service providers to offer services. The second release service also requires RSPs to use elements of their own network, including backhaul and traffic management, to connect to an NBN Co PoI located in Sydney. The first release product was provided as an end-to-end service by NBN Co.
The entry of broadband provider iiNet into the satellite space was perhaps not surprising given that its Westnet subsidiary has been a reseller of Ipstar services for a number of years. For its part, Ipstar is already providing satellite bandwidth for the service thanks to a A$100 million five-year contract awarded earlier this year. Optus is the main managed service provider for the NBN satellite offering and is responsible for the service up to the point of interconnect.
However, it is the first time that Ipstar had announced plans to become a retail provider for the NBN itself. A spokesperson for the company confirmed the move and said that it had not yet decided if it would also offer NBN services over fibre or wireless infrastructure.
MULTI-SERVICE FUTURE: One company that is planning to offer services across all infrastructure types is Brisbane-based Skymesh. CEO Paul Rees told CommsDay that its plans are well advanced and he was expecting to sign-off on NBN Co's final executable wholesale agreement straight away, with service in fibre areas of Queensland to commence shortly after, and NSW, Victoria and Tasmania to follow.
Rees said that Skymesh had already been through the on boarding process for both satellite and fibre services and that the company was also willing to become one of the wireless trial RSPs when it kicks off.
He also confirmed that the company will connect directly with NBN Co rather than go through a thirdparty aggregator.
While Skymesh is best known for its satellite services, it also has a track record with other infrastructure. The company has run its own wireless network in Gympie and the Sunshine Coast for six years, while it also rebills Telstra landlines and offers ADSL services and business grade fibre services in Brisbane.
“Access to NBN services means we can sell to any customer anywhere in Australia using ADSL, satellite, fibre and wireless,” Rees said, adding that he was not concerned about the likes of iiNet moving into satellite. “We’re not worried they are selling satellite, but they should be worried we’re selling fibre,” he commented.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for NBN Co also said that the company was currently in discussions with other potential providers of its satellite service. The interim service is scheduled to run until 2015, when NBN Co plans to launch two Ka-band satellites as part of its so-called Long Term Satellite Service, which aims to deliver access speeds of 12Mbps per downlink.
Geoff Long COMMSDAY
