Frontier Communications to offer satellite internet via HughesNet

Oregon-based independent telecommunications provider Frontier Communications announced that it will start offering satellite internet services to three areas in the state that are beyond the reach of the company’s fibre optic cables.

The three areas that would be receiving the service are Coos Bay, Beaverton, and Gresham. According to Frontier, the satellite internet will be made available through HughesNet which had been primarily designed to service rural clients in the US. Nearly 20 million Americans remain cut of from high-speed broadband access or continue to rely on DSL technology.

Frontier Communications also announced that for 5 mbps Internet on satellite service, the price is at $54.50 while for the 15 mbps service, customers will pay $124.50. These rates are on a monthly basis. The company said they plan to extend the service to other areas but did not disclose the locations and any particular timeline.

 

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Rural clients, to enjoy only second-rate service from NBN

Seven percent of Australians live in remote or rural areas. In these far-flung locations, the NBN’s fibre footprint runs shorts. Instead, fixed wireless or internet from satellite will be the services offered. But are they second-rate?

Urban regions connected via the fibre networks of the NBN are expected to enjoy up to 100mpbs download speeds, a far cry from the 12mpbs rural clients will be getting via satellite or fixed wireless. The disparity in download and uploads speeds have compelled local officials affected by the fibre connection cut-off to say, “unfair”.

 

Town mayors across the remote areas down under are complaining that the satellite or fixed-wireless service will not be able to support the more bandwidth-intensive applications their communities require. Applications like tele-health and online education may suffer latency issues under the proposed non-fibre solutions by the NBN. In fact, many other residents of remote Australian town are pointing out the NBN’s design flaw. The company has not included the millions of Australian citizens, as well as tourists, who head towards the outback, and move to different rural locations several times a year, in its broadband project.

The question being raised now: Are rural Australian residents any less important than those residing in the cities?

 

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