“That ICPA (Aust) lobbies NBN Co to continue to work with global Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite providers to establish LEO internet services under nbn obligations for remote Australian students, including price certainty, network and data sovereignty and options for local support.”
Low Earth Orbit internet offers many advantages over geostationary satellite internet. These advantages are becoming more and more important to the education of children in the remote areas of Australia. For example, the ability to use low-latency videoconferencing.
Some global providers are starting to offer internet plans in Australia, but often they do not provide local support. Key players in the Australian telecommunications industry are starting to partner with these global providers to offer products that include local support. NBN Co is also looking at opportunities to bring offerings to Australia under the nbn banner.
We think it is important that NBN Co takes these partnerships seriously, and not just allow private companies to dictate what is offered here in Australia. The Sky Muster satellites are only meant to be in service until the early 2030's and they are already showing their age. NBN Co must be looking now at what comes next to best serve the remote Australia population and reduce the digital divide.
\As the NBN Co Ltd Statement of Expectations 2022 states, "NBN Co will enhance Australia’s digital capability by delivering services to meet the current and future needs of households, communities and businesses, and promote digital inclusion and equitable access to affordable and reliable broadband services." We believe low-latency internet is a current need for remote education. It also states, that NBN Co is expected to be "Undertaking proactive network planning, including for the transition of satellite services, and positioning itself to utilise emerging and future technologies to meet future demand, promote innovation, improve services and generate efficiencies in service delivery."
Furthermore, it states "NBN Co should ensure security and resilience issues are integral parts of its decision making and demonstrate best practice in managing these issues. NBN Co should take an active role in supporting telecommunications sector security." Data security and resilience are at risk where wholesale internet services are provided by international private or government-owned companies. NBN Co would do well to set the standard for what Australians can expect from LEO internet in Australia.
