Since SkyMuster’s flawless launch on 1^stOctober, it is now safely in orbit at its desired location above New Guinea and new nbn satellite system testing has been set up on the 101 beams across Australia.
As mentioned in my November blog, Activ8me is one of three companies that will be testing the performance of the new satellite service.
About 80 Activ8me customers (selected at the discretion of nbn) are currently being fitted with new nbn satellite equipment for beam testing purposes (also referred to as the nbn test phase).
Currently we are testing the nbn systems for placing and amending customer orders.  We have also connected our data network to nbn in preparation for the new satellite services.
In another milestone during November, we also took delivery of our first new nbn modem and satellite dish. It is great to be among the first providers to receive the new technology equipment so initial testing can commence. We anticipate that we will have full connectivity to the satellite system on 10^th December so that we can put the new service through its paces.

Photo: Tony Bundrock, Activ8me CEO with new nbn satellite dish and modem at Activ8me headquarters.
From the 14^th – 18^th December, we will be placing orders for Activ8me satellite field trial customers (selected at the discretion of nbn) to fully test the order fulfillment process. Next year, I hope to update you on the progress of the nbn test phase (beam testing) and field trials being conducted throughout December and early next year.
The new nbn satellite will continue to have a Fair Usage Policy in place designed to make sure that all customers get a fair go with their service, especially at peak-usage times. nbn is currently  finalising the Fair Use Policy. The nbn parameters are important in order to manage the finite capacity on the nbn satellite system so that it is fairly shared amongst all users.
By comparison, on fixed line broadband technologies extra capacity can be installed relatively easily – but once the two satellites have launched, nbn cannot add any capacity to them. The only way to get more capacity would be to build and launch another satellite – and that takes about five years.
That said, we have varied customer usage requirements across our large customer base and will be developing a range of plans suited to basic internet use, up to larger plans for those customers running small businesses from their home and long distance education requirements.
While we have been working on preparations for testing the new satellite service, I have also been investigating measures for improving performance for our current nbn Interim Satellite Service (ISS) customers. Recently we have been making further changes in our network to improve the browsing experience. We now give normal browsing a higher priority than previously and we give more bandwidth-hungry applications such as peer to peer downloads a lower priority than they had previously. This prioritisation is fine-tuned throughout the day and night to ensure the best experience for all customers.
With the advent of two new dedicated nbn broadband satellites which will deliver up to a combined 135Gbps of capacity, compared to the current nbn Interim Satellite Service (ISS) with less than 4Gbps of capacity, the new satellites are designed to deliver download speeds of up to 25Mbps – around five times what people are able to access on the current nbn Interim Satellite Service (ISS).
Since the launch of the Sky Muster we have had a very positive response from existing customers who want to get onto the new nbn service. We have hit the ground running on pre-registrations and interested new customers showing the pent-up demand for a quality satellite internet connection with larger data allowances as the dynamic demands of our consumers have changed and evolved overtime.
We have been in consultation with nbn regarding the method for making customer appointments for activation, assurance and migration of existing services. Once the new nbn satellite service is ready for commercial connections, Activ8me will now be able to nominate around 2,000 customers for an upgrade to the new nbn satellite service per month.
If you haven’t yet registered your interest for updates on the new nbn satellite, you can still do so by clicking here. We are taking registrations from everyone, so if you have friends and/or neighbours interested in a new satellite service, please encourage them to register as well.
If you have problems clicking the link above you can register for updates by:
Visiting: https://activ8me.net.au/register-interest-ltss
Or, go to the Activ8me website > Click ‘Contact Us’> Select ‘Register Interest New NBN Satellite’