NBN Co has named US based ViaSat to supply the equipment for the 10 satellite earth stations it is building around Australia.
It has signed a $280m contract with ViaSat for the manufacture and supply of communications equipment including the large satellite dishes that will be located at the 10 earth stations and for technology to be installed in NBN Co's data centres to manage the integration of the satellite service with the rest of the NBN network.
NBN Co said: "The contract was subject to a comprehensive, two-year procurement process undertaken by NBN Co and is part of a total investment of around $2b in the Long Term Satellite Service...[the satellite project overall] is expected to lead to the creation of more than 300 Australian jobs including a workforce to install small satellite transmission equipment at homes and businesses, as well as IT workers to manage the project."
The contract announced today is the second of three major tenders being awarded as part of the long term satellite service. In February, NBN Co awarded a $620m contract to Space Systems/Loral to build two l Ka-band broadband satellites plus associated telemetry, tracking and command systems. A launch contract will be awarded at a later date.
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Tracking the telecoms industry since 1989, Stuart has been awarded Journalist Of The Year by the Australian Telecommunications Users Group (twice) and by the Service Providers Action Network. In 2010 he received the 'Kester' lifetime achievement award in the Consensus IT Writers Awards and was made a Lifetime Member of the Telecommunications Society of Australia. He was born in the UK, came to Australia in 1980 and has been here ever since.
