Sky Muster delays in more ways than one

Nbn co launched the first of two communications satellites into orbit in October last year, and the roll-out through service providers to some 400,000 eligible customers began in April.

This includes 37,000 users of the over-subscribed and congested Interim Satellite Service, who were to be migrated to the new Long Term Satellite Service within a year.

The second satellite, Sky Muster II, will be used by nbn co to provide additional data capacity but the founder of the Better Internet for Rural, Regional and Remote Australia, Kristy Sparrow would like to see existing problems addressed first.

“There are loss of service issues happening that are seeing people with no alternative left without internet for days at a time,” she said.

“Then when their service comes back on, it’s very slow, at any time of the day, or they’re not able to access all but a couple of websites.

“I experienced it myself last week. It’s becoming beyond frustrating for a service that was sold as a game-changer for rural people.”

Kristy said it could no longer be called “teething problems”, adding that a seeming lack of accountability on nbn’s part was complicating peoples’ reactions, along with a lack of transparency from nbn co.

She said there were no announcements to explain the reasons for outages, and that the process for lodging complaints or fault notifications was unsatisfactory.

“When our BIRRR Facebook page goes into meltdown, like it is now, you know there’s a problem, and because half of the people affected have no alternate internet option, we’re probably only hearing from half the people affected.”

Nbn co has been contacted for comment.

Nbn co successfully launched Sky Muster II into orbit at 7.30am on Thursday morning, Australian Eastern Daylight Time.

Chief executive officer Bill Morrow said the launch would help ensure no Australian was left behind, by providing access to fast broadband for those who need it the most.

“Today’s successful launch of Sky Muster II marks the next step in delivering our world-leading satellite broadband service,” he said. 

“This service is already helping to improve healthcare outcomes by connecting remote patients to city specialists, delivering access to a new world of educational opportunities for kids in the bush and increasing productivity for local small businesses.”