Australia’s state-owned internet network NBN Co joined hands with Amazon's Project Kuiper for satellite internet services.
According to Reuters, NBN Co chooses Jeff Bezos-owned Amazon’s untested startup satellite service over tech mogul Elon Musk’s Starlink to facilitate people who cannot access its terrestrial network.
As part of the deal, Amazon’s Project Kuiper will provide high-speed internet to approximately 300,000 homes and businesses that are currently beyond NBN Co's terrestrial network reach.
NBN and Amazon, in a joint statement on Tuesday, August 5, revealed that from next year, Project Kuiper low-Earth orbit satellites will start taking over Australia’s two Australian government-owned satellites set for decommissioning in 2032.
NBN's chief development officer, Gavin Williams, said, “It is true that Amazon Kuiper has not launched services yet in Australia or globally, but they are reportedly pumping in about $15 billion into that programme. We have every confidence that we've got a partner in Kuiper that will do what they say they're going to do.”
When asked if tech giant Elon Musk, who owned Starlink, played any role in the decision, he replied that NBN supplied critical infrastructure with regulatory and legal obligations, and "technical, operational, and commercial imperatives that fall into that consideration were contemplated and ventilated through the procurement process."
As per industry data, a major deal between Amazon and NBN Co. means that by far the world's biggest provider of satellite internet, Starlink, missed out on serving more than 250,000 Australian customers.
