Rural communities fear 'data drought' for 18 months despite launch of NBN satellite Sky Muster
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Frustrated rural internet customers fear it could be 18 months before their substandard services are improved by the National Broadband Network (NBN Co) satellite Sky Muster.
The new half-a-billion-dollar satellite was launched this morning, but due to months of testing will not be commercially available until mid-2016.
Central Queensland farmer Kristy Sparrow said the bush cannot wait that long.
"Businesses are closing and families are moving away from the bush in droves, because they can't access services they need to live there," Ms Sparrow said.
Ms Sparrow has called on NBN Co to do more to improve speeds and lift data limits for those struggling with the congested interim satellite service (ISS), which Sky Muster will replace.
"They oversubscribed it, [they should] come up with a solution to fix it, and fix it now," Ms Sparrow said.
Last year the mother of 13-year-old twins started the Better Internet for Rural Regional and Remote Australia Facebook page to lobby for better services.
"The drought's been catastrophic for most of central Queensland and other parts of Australia. The internet saga's been the straw that broke the camel's back," Ms Sparrow said.
"As far as I'm concerned, we're in a data drought."
Distance education students struggling with rationed gigabytes
Last month the then communications minister Malcolm Turnbull said the ISS, which was established by the previous Labor government, was a complete failure.
To address the congestion on the oversold system NBN Co introduced a fair use policy at the start of the year.
All ISS users had their data plans cut.
Megan Munchenberg from Gregory Downs station in far north Queensland has seen the impact on her two children, who study by school of the air.
In March the station schoolroom's 100 gigabyte plan was halved to 50 gigabytes, then three months later reduced to 45 gigabytes.
"Each child by standard has been recommended that they need 20 gigabytes month each. Currently we have 20 gigabytes for five children," she said.
Despite rationing, the schoolroom cannot make it through the month, and their internet is "shaped", or drastically slowed.
"It's pretty much just turn the computer off and walk away because the ability to do anything is impossible," Ms Munchenberg said.
Telstra Countrywide's decision to un-meter 38 education websites will help Telstra's mobile broadband customers but not those on the ISS.
Ms Munchenberg said families reliant on distance education should be exempt from data limits.
"They need to prioritise the areas where children are learning via distance education ... those families should be prioritised over anybody else," she said.
Families unable to send emails, banking transactions time out
NBN Co's general manager for fixed wireless and satellite, Gavin Williams, said he does not like to hear stories of hardship caused by the ISS.
"It's incredibly humbling when you hear the real world impacts of individuals in the bush just trying to do things that people in the city just take for granted," he said.
"When you can't do a banking transaction because it times out, that a kid has to get up at 5:00am to do a lesson, they're heartbreaking stories."
Mr Williams said there is not much NBN Co can do for rural customers until Sky Muster comes online.
He said when it does, it will be a game changer for 200,000 families.
"It is a revolution in capacity and capability for broadband in the bush," he said.
"It's a $1.8 million investment and it will deliver world class broadband with higher speeds, bigger allowances and a satellite designed from the ground up for people in regional and remote Australia."
National Farmers Federation chief executive Simon Talbot said Sky Muster will allow farmers to fully participate in the digital economy for the first time.
"It's a critical step in resolving the data drought," Mr Talbot said.
"People have been appalled by the Interim Satellite Solution offered by the NBN, which has left families unable to send e-mails, access online learning or manage their finances online."
He said the excitement is tempered with trepidation, as potential users wait for details on what services the new satellite will deliver.
"We users will be subject to lower download limits than those in metropolitan areas. Farmers will be keen to ensure that caps are reasonable, and don't place a handbrake on business or education usage."
Fears that ISS users won't be able to switch over for years
Ms Sparrow said rural people are sceptical.
"The NBN have effectively mismanaged the ISS, why should we be trusting?" she said.
Ms Sparrow said there is an information drought about the new long-term satellite service (LSS) and called on NBN Co to provide more information.
"How much are these families going to be able to access? What data limits? What costs? How long is it going to take to service every family?" she said.
"Is it going to be mid-2016? Late 2016?"
She said she fears it could be several years before all current ISS users are able to switch over.
"They have to actually go and physically put new software and installations on properties. We're talking several years to do that," she said.
NBN Co's corporate affairs manager for Queensland, Kylie Lindsay, dismissed fears it will take that long.
"We're actually planning to migrate all current ISS users across within a year from the service being commercially available," she said.
Ms Sparrow said rural families struggling to do basic farm business banking and educate their children cannot wait until the middle of 2017.
"People deserve to be connected to the internet," she said.
"It's a digital world and there's a digital divide. The interim satellite at least deserves to be fixed until then."
Pip Courtney's full story on the Data Drought is on Landline Sunday at noon.
