Last week we saw the launch of the latest NBN broadband satellite 'Sky Muster' which aims to improve internet access for remote and rural Australians. However, due to many months of testing it is a long wait until it will be commercially available which will be around the middle of 2016.
Until then, the digital divide is present in our backyard and 200 000 families are doing it tough with extremely slow speeds and monthly data allowance reductions from 100 to 50 and eventually 45GB. This was done in an attempt to reduce congestion on the existing satellite but has done little to improve speed. Distance education students and children who study by 'school of the air' are unable to access educational websites as they have ran short of data towards the end of the month. Many businesses are suffering as well affecting their banking and daily tasks. To top it off, the cost of data for these families are significantly higher than those living in metropolitan areas.
Whereas, city dwellers are increasingly on affordable unlimited data plans with retailers and are enjoying plenty of Netflix while many are unable to complete daily computing tasks. So before complaining about slow wifi, be reminded of those living in rural and remote Australia!!!
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