Prime Minister Julia Gillard says two satellites delivering high-speed broadband will ensure Australians in the most remote areas of the nation can bridge the digital divide with their city cousins.
The government has announced a $620 million deal between NBN Co, the government-owned enterprise rolling out the national broadband network (NBN), and US firm Loral Space and Communications to make the satellites.
When they go into orbit in 2015, around 200,000 homes and businesses in the remotest regions will have access to internet download speeds similar to those currently available in urban centres.
'We won't be leaving those Australians who live in the remotest parts of the nation behind,' she told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.
Under the $35.9 billion NBN project, fibre-optic cable delivering high-speed broadband services will be rolled out to 93 per cent of Australia's 13 million homes, schools and businesses by 2021.
Fixed wireless technology will provide high-speed internet to four per cent of premises and the remaining three per cent will be supplied by the two satellites to remote areas.
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said the satellites would give users affordable world-class broadband connections to be paid for by cross-subsidies built into the NBN plan.
'It ensures remote families and business pay the same entry-level wholesale price for services in the city,' the senator said.
'Using these satellites, rural businesses can make it easier to expand in national and international markets.'
The satellites would be launched separately, the first one by March 2015 and the second one six months later.
'The satellite service this announcement covers will see a quantum, a leap in improvement in services for the remotest communities,' Senator Conroy said.
NBN Co chief Mike Quigley said the satellites were designed to deliver initial peak speeds of 12 megabytes per second downloading and one megabyte a second uploading.
'It will be possible for retail service providers to offer services to homes and businesses in the satellite footprint that are as good or better than the services many city people currently experience,' he said.
Under the deal with Loral Space and Communications subsidiary Space Systems/Loral, which won the hotly contested contract, the Ka-band satellites will be built in the US.
'We're delighted to play a part in helping to deliver much-needed high-speed broadband communities in regional and remote areas,' Space Systems/Loral president John Celli said.
Senator Conroy dismissed reports an Australian company had missed out on the contract, saying no Australian company had the capacity to build the satellites.
He said there were only five companies in the world with that ability - three firms in the US and two in Europe.
The contract is part of a total investment of approximately $2 billion over 15 years that will be required to deliver the NBN long-term satellite service.
The NBN is due to be completed by 2021.
