News

• More NBN access for remote schools

  More remote schools, health clinics and local government facilities will be able to access the National Broadband Network (NBN) through an established interim satellite service, the government says.

• Bourke one step closer to NBN - after a three-year wait

  Bourke will be home to a satellite ground station to help it get on-board the National Broadband Network (NBN) – but it’s going to have to wait three years until it is operational.

• LightSquared wins two-year reprieve for spectrum payments to Inmarsat

  LightSquared has a further two years in which to seek regulatory approval for its LTE mobile network in the U.S. before it must begin making payments to its radio spectrum supplier Inmarsat, the companies announced Friday.

• Honeywell and Inmarsat to improve in-flight connectivity

  Honeywell and Inmarsat have signed a deal to cooperate on next-generation in-flight connectivity systems that will increase the maximum bandwidth to 50M bps (bits per second), they said on Wednesday.

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  ITU reassures NBN Co on satellite concerns

  NBN Co has engaged the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to quell suggestions that the launch of the National Broadband Network (NBN) satellites in 2015 will be delayed due to a lack of orbital slot approval.

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  Quigley dismisses Turnbull’s satellite concerns

  NBN Co chief executive, Mike Quigley, has dismissed concerns raised by shadow communications minister, Malcolm Turnbull, that the risk of missing out on allocated slots could delay the launch of the two Ka-band satellites planned for the National Broadband Network (NBN).

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  LightSquared question is in FCC's hands now

  With the end of the public comment and response periods on LightSquared's plan to operate a 4G LTE service near GPS frequencies, it's now the FCC's turn to decide how to proceed.

• Broadband infrastructure: Time for real policy

  I'm late filing this column. Why? It's my AT&T U-Verse DSL connection again. Make that "yet again." I've been struggling with it all day.

• LTE will help make in-flight data access cheaper, vendors say

  Deutsche Telekom, Alcatel-Lucent and Airbus have tested data communication between an aircraft and the ground, using LTE, which helps make in-flight data access cheaper, the three companies said on Thursday.

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  Communications Alliance establishes satellite services working group

  The Communications Alliance has established a satellite services working group to influence State and Federal Government policy as the National Broadband Network (NBN) satellite plan is rolled out.

• NewSat secures rights to eighth orbital slot

  Satellite operator NewSat (ASX:NWT) has enhanced its capacity to roll out new craft, with the purchase of an eighth orbital slot.

• iiNet announces NBN satellite plans

  Internet service provider, iiNet, has announced plans for a National Broadband Network (NBN) satellite service to be released in March this year with prices starting at $39.95 a month.

• LightSquared's Ahuja resigns as CEO

  LightSquared Chairman and CEO Sanjiv Ahuja has resigned his CEO post, in the latest change to rock the company that still says it wants to build a 4G network using frequencies next to the GPS spectrum band.

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  LightSquared defaults on $56M payment to spectrum owner Inmarsat

  LightSquared has defaulted on a US$56.25 million payment due under a 2007 wireless spectrum cooperation agreement with Inmarsat, the U.K. satellite communications operator said Monday, adding that it could terminate the agreement if LightSquared doesn't make payment within 60 days.

• LightSquared's options to save its network are limited

  Though would-be mobile carrier LightSquared says it still wants to find a solution to interference with GPS, its options are limited, industry observers said on Wednesday.