Australia signs with Arianespace for broadband network satellites

Australian Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Stephen Conroy on Monday announced that the country's National Broadband Network (NBN) Co. has signed a contract with French firm Arianespace for the launch of two next generation satellites to deliver high-speed broadband to Australians living in rural and remote areas. "The contract is the final step needed to ensure that the NBN's long-term satellite service is available to people living in rural and remote Australia from mid-2015," Conroy said. Conroy was joined at the announcement by the French minister delegate for small and medium enterprises, innovation and the digital Economy, Fleur Pellerin. "The contract was awarded to European consortium, Arianespace, after an extensive procurement process. Arianespace has an impressive track record in launching satellites, completing 53 successful launches in a row," Conroy said. With the 300-million-Australian dollar (303-million-U.S. dollar) contract, Arianespace will be able to build two 777-ton rockets to send the satellites into geostationary orbit in 2015. Once launched, NBN Co's two next generation satellites will deliver broadband speeds of 25 megabytes per second (Mbps) download and five Mbps upload. Currently, remote centers use an interim NBN satellite service with a download speed of sive Mbps. However, the speed will still be slower than the top-end 100 Mbps offered over the NBN optic fiber cable. The satellites, worth 620 million AU dollars (626.2 million U.S. dollars), are being built by U.S. firm Space Systems/Loral in California and will connect with 10 ground stations. The two satellites will be launched separately in 2015 from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana. Conroy said that there are already more than 25,000 homes and businesses across rural and remote Australia that use the NBN's interim satellite service, demonstrating the demand for high-speed broadband services there. "The NBN satellite service is key to bridging the divide between the city and the bush. It will give people in the outback, remote regions and Australia's overseas territories access to economic and social opportunities that the rest of us take for granted," NBN Co Chief Executive Mike Quigley said in a statement. NBN aims to provide access to fiber-to-the-premise (FTTP) technology to 93 percent of Australian homes, schools and businesses. Because of the size of Australia, the company needs to use both fixed, wireless and satellite technology. The network is estimated to cost 35.9 billion AU dollars (36.2 billion U.S. dollars) to construct over a 10-year period, including an Australian government investment of 27.5 billion AU Dollars.