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Bridging the digital divide between city and bush

Congratulations to all Sky Muster™ II Blast Your Face winners!

Pictured: the rocket carrying the first nbn™ Sky Muster™ Satellite blasting off into space.

The launch of the nbn™ Sky Muster ™ II on October 5, 2016 is the next step in nbn’s mission to help bridge the digital divide between the city and bush.

The satellite will offer access to high-speed internet to Aussies who live in the most remote outback and offshore locations.

Blast Your Face Into Space was a nationwide nbn competition giving Aussies the unique opportunity to be included in a mosaic artwork of photographs which will be placed on the nose cone of the rocket carrying  nbn’s second satellite into space.

More than 700 Aussies won the chance to etch their place in history and have their face blasted into space. Below are some of their stories.

The artwork printed on the nose cone of the rocket. Click on the image to enlarge

Rachel Hermann, Gracemere QLD

Rachel is currently studying externally via the internet and says having a fast internet connection will help her to accomplish her studies so that she can be a good role model to her children.

Rachel’s daughter, who is in high school, is now also able to conduct faster research for her homework via the nbn™ network.*

Petie Moore from Cooper Pedy, SA

Living on a remote cattle station with her husband and four kids (aged 8, 6, 3, and 1) about 150kms from Cooper Pedy, SA, Petie connected to the Interim Satellite Service (ISS) in December and this has been transformational for her household.

The family now has access to broadband via the nbn™ network with access to various online tools and entertainment.*

Image courtesy: Petie Moore of Cooper Pedy, SA

Sally Coady Cargo / Canowindra, NSW

Sally lives in an isolated farm with her family and primarily wants to be connected to the nbn™ network for safety reasions, as her mobile phone doesn’t reach the closest telecommunications tower.

Connection to a service over the nbn™ Sky Muster™ II Satellite will help Sally to get a message out if her family needs help.*

Additionally, Sally’s three children (aged 11, 4 and 3) will be able to access their educational tools via fast broadband, putting them in the same category as their peers in less isolated areas.

According to Sally, around 90% of her 11-year-old’s school work is internet-based, so this will be a game changer for the family.  

Image Courtesy: Sally Coady of Cargo / Canowindra, NSW

Chelsea Jackson-Waterton, Newcastle NSW

Living in the serenity and beauty of remote Australia, Chelsea had access to little or no available communication technologies.

Fast broadband will be life changing for Chelsea, who will have increased access to information and technology, helping to improve her productivity day-to-day.

Cooper Richie, Pambula Beach NSW

Cooper is a Year 11 rural student and audio and lighting engineer who needs fast internet to be able to study.

Fast broadband via the nbn™ network will allow Cooper to do what he needs when he needs.

Image courtesy: Cooper Richie of Pambula Beach, NSW

Simon Smith, Albany WA

Simon is a Certified Practicing Accountant (CPA), who has been in the profession for 35 years.

His business employs 16 people who collectively provide business advisory consulting services to business owners.

In his experience he has witnessed the evolution of business practices from manual cash books to cloud accounting.

Simon sees that high speed internet video conferencing helps eliminate the tyranny of distance and puts the consulting process where it should be – in front of people.

Image courtesy: Simon Smith of Albany, WA

For more information on the nbn™ Sky Muster™ Satellite service, check out our Sky Muster™ home page for updates about the launch, and other content about our satellite services.

*Your experience including the speeds actually achieved over the nbn™ network depends on factors outside our control like your equipment quality, software, broadband plans, signal quality and how your service provider designs its network.


Last updated on 28 September 2016



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