Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 04 September 2007 10:43
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Satellite service provider NewSat (ASX: NWT) and ISP Dodo have teamed up in a bid to secure Australian Broadband Guarantee funding to provide satellite-based broadband services to rural Australia.
The services will be developed and delivered by NewSat using ViaSat's SurfBeam technology with Dodo providing the sales and customer service functions. They will be branded "Dodo Satellite powered by NewSat". As part of the deal a Dodo subsidiary, Dodo Satellite Pty Ltd has bought $500,000 of ordinary shares in NewSat, as well as performance based options.
Under the agreement, Dodo has commited to signing up 12,000 customers by 30 June 208. NewSat CEO, Adrian Ballintine, said: "We think there are about 300,000 disenfranchised opportunities out there." Services will, in most cases be delivered via a one metre dish and Ballintine said an announcement of an installation partner would be made shortly, one ABG funding is obtained.
NewSat's main competitor is iPStar, the world's largest commercial broadband satellite built by Thai company, Shin Satellite specifically to deliver broadband services in the Asian region. However Ballintine said that the NewSat offering would be less expensive and would enable users to engage in triple play.
NewSat claims that the new service, scheduled to commence October 07, will be able to deliver "the lowest price and best performance benchmark ever in consumer broadband Internet satellite connection for remote Australia.... This move is set to revolutionise the price of broadband satellite connection in the country by slicing approximately 30 percent from the current starting prices for a 256/64kbps speed connection."
The service will offer a range of seven connection plans, all capped, with a starting price of below $20 per month. Under the ABG scheme providers receive a subsidy of $2,500 for each eligible customer they sign up and must not increase their initial prices for three years.
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