[LINK] Consolidated Pastoral Company rolls out $750, 000 internet service

[David Boxall]

CPC has decided that the NBN Sky Muster satellite service is inadequate.

<http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-21/consolidated-pastoral-company-rolls-out-750k-internet-service/8372544>
> ABC Rural By Eric Barker
>
> Australia's second largest cattle producer, the Consolidated Pastoral 
> Company (CPC), is rolling out a new $750,000 internet service.
>
> In an effort to guarantee basic connectivity on its remote cattle 
> stations, the company has started building satellites on 15 of its 
> holdings, to use Telstra's Iterra system.
>
> It comes as the National Audit Office investigates whether the 
> National Broadband Network (NBN) has been administered properly.
>
> CPC CEO Troy Setter said the service would cost $750,000 to roll out, 
> with an ongoing cost of $300,000 per annum.
>
> "It's very expensive for a basic service, but we need to provide 
> service for business but then also service for our team members who 
> live out on our properties," Mr Setter said.
>
> "They need to be able to complete School of the Air and our staff need 
> to be involved with social media."
>
> Mr Setter said access to online communication was becoming 
> increasingly important for CPC staff.
>
> "It's an important part of society and it's important for our staff 
> that they can communicate with their friends and family back at home," 
> he said
>
> Skymuster NBN not an option for CPC
>
> Mr Setter said no minimum service guarantees from the Skymuster NBN 
> made it too unreliable for them to use.
>
> "It's just not simply going to be good enough for us to run basic 
> internet connectivity," he said.
>
> "We wouldn't be able to use VOIP [Voice over Internet Protocol] or any 
> [enterprise resource planning] applications to without predictable 
> internet speeds and the NBN doesn't do that for us."
>
> Mr Setter said another reason for not using NBN services was because 
> there were administrative issues with the service.
>
> "The current service is for residential use only, so they must be 
> attributed to an individual and not a business entity … and that 
> causes us a fair few challenges," he said.
>
> Internet connectivity key to northern development
>
> CPC's new internet system comes as a new cooperative research centre 
> for developing northern Australia met for the first time this month.
>
> Northern Development Cooperative Research Centres chair Sheridan 
> Morris said communications were essential to developing northern 
> Australia.
>
> "It's well recognised that it's essential to have very good 
> communications, particularly in remote and regional areas if we want 
> to engage in the modern economy," she said.
>
> "We'll be looking at what we can build on what's already there, what 
> innovations we can add to the communication networks in the north."

-- 
David Boxall                    |  Dogs look up to us
                                 |  And cats look down on us
http://david.boxall.id.au       |  But pigs treat us as equals
--Winston Churchill