The Federal Government has announced the next round of high-speed satellite and fixed wireless broadband contracts for regional and remote Australia.

 

The main contract, worth an initial $280 million, has been signed between NBN Co and Via Sat Inc for the manufacture of satellite dishes and other key infrastructure to deliver fixed wireless and satellite broadband services to regional and rural areas of the country.

 

The contract will see the construction of two 13.5 metre-wide satellite antennas for the National Broadband Network’s ten satellite ground stations; as well as household satellite dishes and network infrastructure for NBN Co’s data centres.

 

The contract will facilitate the delivery of services to as many as 200,000 homes and businesses in some of the most remote parts of Australia.

 

" This is on top of 25,000 premises already announced, bringing the total so far in Queensland to 55,000 homes and businesses in rural areas that are expected to be served by fast, reliable broadband via fixed wireless," Prime Minister Julia Gillard said in a statement.