The facility will deliver NBN services to outback Queensland communities such as Winton, Bedourie, Burketown and the Torres Strait Islands. NBN Co plans to construct a single-storey building with two 13.5-metre diameter satellite dishes on a site on Kimbler Road, approximately four kilometres east of Roma.
It should also provide a boost to the local economy when construction begins next year – an estimated 20-30 construction workers will be required to build the facility, which is expected to be complete by 2015.
The town of Roma itself will be included in the NBN’s terrestrial fibre network. The satellite ground station at Roma is one of ten such facilities nationwide that will support the NBN Co’s Long Term Satellite Service, which is expected to begin operating in 2015 when NBN Co launches two satellites to deliver wholesale speeds of up to 12Mbps.
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Other NBN satellites ground stations have been announced at Carnarvon, Geraldton and Kalgoorlie (Western Australia), Ceduna (South Australia) and Bourke and Merimbula (NSW).
Matt Dawson, NBN Co’s Program Director, Satellites, said: “Roma is ideally situated to play a central role in delivering better broadband to the outback. It has the ideal climate and is close to reliable power and other infrastructure including the NBN’s core fibre transit network– the main fibre transmission lines linking towns and our exchanges.”
