Relief is on the way for the many residents in Somerset Region who cannot access either ADSL or wireless Broadband services.

On 1 July the Australian Broadband Guarantee subsidy program that has assisted so many rural customers with more affordable but often temperamental satellite Broadband services was replaced by the NBN First Release Satellite Solution (FRSS).

The commercial launch of the Interim Satellite Service as part of the National Broadband Network (NBN) will provide eligible rural and regional Australians with access to enhanced broadband services.

The interim service, which is being provided through a number of retail service providers, would be in operation until the long term satellite solution became available for launch in 2015.

In a recent Press release, Senator Conroy said the launch follows the 6 May 2011 announcement that NBN Co had signed contracts with Optus and IPStar for the delivery of a service offering peak speeds of 6 Megabit per second download /1 Megabit per second upload.

The new Interim Satellite Service will deliver substantial speed and performance improvements over current satellite services and replaces the Australian Broadband Guarantee (ABG), providing access to affordable broadband to those who need it most.

NBN Co has designed the service for residents and small businesses in rural and remote Australia who can’t currently access broadband services comparable to those available in metropolitan areas. Eligibility for the Interim Satellite Service will be based on similar criteria as applied under the ABG.

The new service is being launched in a ramp up phase until November during the transition period from the ABG, after which up to 1000 new connections per month are expected.

Four retail service providers are currently offering NBN Co Interim Satellite services. They are Bordernet, Clear Networks, Harbour IT and SkyMesh. A further two will commence on 15 July – Activ8Me and ReachNet.

NBN Co will meet the cost of installation and maintenance of satellite dishes and other terminal equipment, which will remain the property of NBN Co.

The NBN FRSS leverages bandwidth from existing satellites owned by Optus and IPStar to deliver 6 Mbps Broadband with about half the latency of existing satellite services. The speed increase is achieved by using state of the art hardware and a big 1.2 metre satellite dish.

The NBN FRSS is currently being trialled by SkyMesh for NBN Co at two locations in Somerset Region, at Paul Computers in Wivenhoe Pocket, and in Somerset Dam, one of the worst telecommunications black spots in Somerset Region.

Paul Heymans, owner of Paul Computers says that “Initial impressions of the NBN FRSS are excellent. “Normal browsing is very snappy compared with previous satellite services, YouTube videos are very smooth, and downloads are as fast as most ADSL 1 services in our region.”

“The feedback from other NBN FRSS triallists in the Whirlpool Broadband discussion forum has been positive. It’s very interesting to see how people who may once have been negative about the NBN change their tune when they get a small taste of it.”

The NBN FRSS service will be available to qualifying customers who don’t currently have access to existing Broadband services from August. Unfortunately the definition of “existing Broadband services” includes any existing satellite service that you may have, unless there is an equipment failure or you no longer have access to the service from some reason.

Installation will be free and prices will be very competitive with existing satellite services.