In what is described by Telstra as a “world-first” offering, the company will be able to offer home phone service, and Starlink broadband services to Australians as a bundle offer.
The agreement provides connectivity options for business customers, with higher bandwidth business options available in areas without fixed and mobile connectivity.
Telstra CEO Vicki Brady said the Starlink agreement was part of Telstra’s T25 strategy commitment to launch a satellite product with the voice and broadband options being available to consumer and business customers.
“Telstra is always looking to invest in new and better connectivity options for our customers. We know that collaborating with the right partners is one of the best ways to help unlock a digital future, in this case for people in rural and remote Australia looking for an improved voice or broadband service,” Ms. Brady said.
“Our teams have been out across the country testing and trialing Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite technology to ensure we understand where it’s the best solution for our consumer and business customers.
“What will set our offer apart is the addition of Telstra voice service, a professional install option and the ability to get local help with your set up if needed."
The business offer will be available to buy from Telstra both locally and in select overseas countries. The company says it expects to offer this to customers and businesses towards the end of 2023.
Loretta Willaton, regional Australia Executive and regional customer advocate at Telstra said: “Our network currently uses a mix of technologies to provide voice and broadband services in rural and remote Australia, including nbn fixed broadband, our mobile network and older copper and radio networks.
“The addition of Starlink will provide an additional connectivity option for people and businesses in rural and remote locations where distance and terrain make it difficult to provide quality connectivity with existing terrestrial networks.”
One of the benefits of LEO satellites is that they are much closer than geostationary satellites to Earth with multiple satellites that are a part of a constellation – allowing them to send and receive signals much faster.
As well as offering great data throughput, the proximity of these satellites reduces latency, making them a great and more consistent option for services that need low latency, like voice and video calls.
The latency, download speeds and general experience are considered to be far superior to copper-based ADSL and are better suited for most modern connectivity needs.
