iiNet drops NBN satellite offerings

ISP iiNet has ceased offering NBN Interim Satellite plans to new customers, saying that the sheer number of users meant the service was “almost unusable” in peak periods.

iiNet subsidiaries Westnet and TransACT will also stop offering NBN Interim Satellite plans to new customers.

The move will not affect existing satellite customers across iiNet Group’s brands, who will remain on their current services.

NBN Co’s Interim Satellite Service was launched in July 2011. Its goal is to offer satellite internet to those without access to “metro-comparable broadband services” until NBN Co’s higher capacity satellite solution becomes available - currently slated for 2015.

A statement from iiNet said the sheer number of people using the service (42,000), combined with transmission capacity constraints, is causing “severe service quality issues”.

“As more people are added to the network, quality will only decline further,” iiNet CEO Michael Malone said.

“At its peak, we had 500 customers signing up every week for our NBN satellite services. There is clearly a significant demand for higher quality broadband in remote Australia, and we’re absolutely gutted that we’ve had to withdraw this crucial service from sale,” he said.

According to Malone, these service quality conditions have led the company to cease offering the plans to new customers.

“iiNet is committed to providing high-quality broadband, so in order to meet our own customer service objectives, we could not continue to offer a service markedly below both our own and our customer’s expectations. During occasional peak periods the service was so slow as to be almost unusable,” he said.

According to iiNet, NBN Co has ruled out providing more transmission capacity for the existing satellite, ahead of its replacement with a higher capacity solution in 2015. Malone suggested other ISPs participating in the Interim Satellite program follow iiNet’s lead.

“In the absence of any action by NBN Co to increase transmission capacity, I call on the rest of the industry to respect their existing customers and also cease sale,” he said.

The ISP said it will investigate opportunities to move any of its existing 8000 satellite customers onto faster wireless services that are being launched in remote areas by its mobile wholesale partner.

Malone said iiNet will provide higher performance services for qualifying customers “as soon as NBN Co commissions its new satellites”.

Pictured: Michael Malone. Image courtesy of iiNet.