NBN

NBN gets praise for Sky Muster data plans • OHB revenues on the rise • U.S. pay-TV subs in decline
Australian farmers are celebrating the start of less restrictive satellite internet from the country’s twin Sky Muster broadband satellites.

Telstra-NBN combo ruled out • Aireon launches free emergency service • Globalstar buys IP from supplier
Australia’s competition watchdog agency ruled out the idea of Telstra buying the National Broadband Network.

FIRST UP Satcom | 2019’s first Ariane 5 launching Feb. 5 • Goonhilly going global • NBN gets CFO
The Ariane 5 launch will carry two telecom satellites: Arabsat’s SaudiGEOSat-1/Hellas Sat 4, and the Indian space agency ISRO’s GSAT-31.

FIRST UP Satcom | Telstra stirs NBN privatization talk • Mynaric lands supplier deal with constellation venture
Australian government officials say it is too early to speculate about the privatization of NBN Co. despite an unsolicited offer from Telstra to eventually buy the public telecommunications company.

NBN preps business broadband offer with underused Sky Muster capacity
An NBN executive estimated the business service will use 15 percent of the capacity on the Sky Muster satellite system.

NBN puts would-be backup Sky Muster satellite into service
Australia’s state-owned National Broadband Network company has placed a satellite originally meant to be a spare into service to keep pace with ramping user demand, and says it has solved around 80 percent of the service issues that have plagued the satellite system since early 2016.

Australia’s NBN satellite consumer broadband service suffering outages and customer response issues
Australia’s national satellite broadband service continues to suffer regional outages seven months after its introduction, with a majority of users reporting installation or connection problems, according to a survey conducted by a national broadband association.

NBN of Australia says bandwidth demand requires use of 2nd satellite
Australia’s NBN Co. on May 31 said it will use the full capacity of its second Ka-band spot-beam satellite, scheduled for launch this year, to accommodate the faster-than-expected rise in bandwidth demand rather than keep it as an in-orbit spare.

NBN To Leverage Terrestrial Links To Boost Throughput Via Satellite
As has been the case with U.S. consumer satellite broadband providers, NBN’s challenge is to assure a guaranteed minimum throughput for all subscribers.