Farmers counting down to slick broadband links

A satellite that will provide farming families in remote areas of New Zealand with broadband internet connections at a rate of up to one gigabit a second is due to blast off this week.

The iPSTAR satellite is owned by Thai company Shin Satellite. It will operate three "spot beams", which will provide broadband coverage to the whole country.

The company already has two resellers signed up in New Zealand - Auckland-based Iconz and rural provider Bay City. Iconz is providing the services as part of the Government's Project Probe contract to provide satellite internet services to remote parts of the country.

Both companies are providing broadband at lower speeds using an existing satellite operated by Optus. But it is hoped the iPSTAR satellite will increase the speed and reduce the price of broadband in remote areas.

Shin's New Zealand spokesman, John Humphries, said the final pricing of bandwidth from iPSTAR has yet to be determined.

A special gateway to provide the service has been built in Auckland. Once the satellite is in orbit, it will take about three months of commissioning before it will be ready to provide broadband services.

The US$350 million ($516 million) iPSTAR satellite will be launched from the European Space Agency's site in French Guyana.

It is one of the largest telecommunications satellites to be launched, with a liftoff mass of six tonnes. It was was originally set to be launched last year.

- NZPA