Here's some promising news for satellite NBN customers. Today, NBN Co has announced the launch of a new satellite NBN offer, Sky Muster Plus Premium. This new plan tier will unlock uncapped data usage (though not unlimited) and the potential to reach 100Mbps with burst download speeds on 25/5Mbps wholesale plans. The new offer should also lead to slightly cheaper satellite NBN plans.
Sky Muster Plus Premium unlocks faster speeds and uncapped data for rural Australia
Pictured: National Broadband Network (NBN) ground station
// Satellite NBN customers can now unlock faster speed bursts and "uncapped" data.
2 min readPublished on June 01, 2023
Sky Muster Plus Premium is available to Retail Service Providers (RSPs) now.
The new offer might seem archaic to anyone with a fixed-line NBN or 5G internet connection, but for regional Australians on satellite internet, uncapped downloads and faster speeds have been a long time coming.
Such a long time coming, in fact, that Elon Musk's Starlink satellite internet service began eating the NBN Co's lunch when it started offering Australia-wide coverage in 2022.
Sky Muster Plus Premium speeds and data limits
The wholesale Sky Muster Plus Premium plan isn't something you can directly buy from the NBN Co. Rather something NBN Co. offers to RSPs (Retail Service Providers) to sell to their customers.
When it is adopted, Sky Muster Plus Premium will enable RSPs to sell satellite NBN plans with uncapped data and speed bursts up to 100Mbps on 25/5Mbps plans.
How do speed bursts work?
While Sky Muster Plus Premium plans will still only guarantee 25Mbps typical evening download speeds and 5Mbps upload speeds, the new plans will be able to "Burst Faster"– up to 100Mbps download speeds– if the network capacity and customer's hardware allow for it. In short, users might experience much faster speeds outside of the network's busy hours. Busy hours are typically between 6pm and 11pm when everyone is at home streaming and gaming.
Does Sky Muster Plus Premium offer unlimited data?
No. It's important to note the difference between uncapped downloads and unlimited downloads, as the NBN Co sees it. Uncapped data technically has no download limit, so regional customers won't need to monitor their data as closely as they would have with previous plans. But a Fair Use Policy and speed shaping still may apply if the NBN Co. decides you're chewing through the gigabytes faster than it would like. The specifics of speed shaping and fair use will likely be detailed by the RSPs over the following weeks.
Sky Muster Plus Premium providers
Who offers Sky Muster Plus Premium?
Already, a number of satellite NBN providers have jumped on board the Sky Muster Plus Premium offer. Here's every provider currently offering Sky Muster Plus Premium plans:
- SkyMesh
- Southern Phone
- Activ8me
- Clear Networks
- IPStar
Sky Muster Plus Premium plans
As an offer fresh out of the oven, satellite NBN providers are still catching up with their Sky Muster Plus Premium plans. Generally speaking, providers are charging around $90 to $100 per month.
IPStar's SkyMuster Plus Unmetered plan costs $100/mth and offers uncapped data 24/7 and speed bursts up to 100Mbps for downloads and 10Mbps for uploads.
Activ8me's Sky Muster Plus Premium plan costs $94 per month for the first three months (then $99 per month ongoing). It features 24/7 unmetered (or uncapped) data, download speed bursts up to 100Mbps and is available on a no-contract, month-to-month arrangement. Activ8me's CIS (Critical Information Summary) doesn't make mention of 10Mbps upload speed bursts, however.
Southern Phone's offer costs $99 per month ongoing on a month-to-month arrangement.
If you're on satellite NBN and want to suss out Sky Muster Plus Premium options, give your provider a call or visit their website.
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