The National Broadband Network Co (NBN Co) has confirmed the small South Australian town of Ceduna as the site of the next NBN satellite ground station.

 

The stations form the essential infrastructure backbone of the NBN’s Long Term Satellite Service, which will, together with fixed wireless, provide 7 per cent of the NBN’s total coverage.

 

“The ground station will employ between 20 and 30 people in the local Ceduna area during its construction, which is expected to begin early next year with the facility to be operational by 2015,”  Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Senator Stephen Conroy said.

 

While in South Australia, Senator Conroy also inspected construction at a new NBN deployment site which will provide vital NBN infrastructure to the state.

 

The NBN Co Technical Aggregation Node and Deployment (TAND) site being built in the suburb of Green Fields will support fibre network construction, training, and NBN maintenance for much of South Australia. It will also be an integral part of NBN Co’s fibre network, helping create more retail competition and better broadband prices for South Australians.

 

“The construction of the TAND is another sign that the NBN is already delivering jobs and better broadband to South Australia. The TAND will employ around 22 permanent staff - part of an estimated 16,000 to 18,000 jobs that will be created by the rollout of the NBN across Australia,” Senator Conroy said.