Having three satellites in such proximity might present technical challenges but it would also mean consumers could potentially access all three for broadband internet and digital TV on the same dish.

Keeping others out of our nest

Moody is keen to secure not only the New Zealand orbital allocation but reception on the ground between 11.7 - 12GHz before Optus or someone else grabs it. The company would willingly partner with others who were serious about using transponder space including existing satellite providers who’re looking for redundancy.

She believes a business case could be approved within six months and a satellite launched within 36 months, delivering digital TV via direct to home antenna and broadband internet, once the MED gets off its hands.

Part of NZLSat’s submission is to redress the fact that New Zealand only applied for ‘every other channel’ available when considering frequencies for the region. That capacity could be doubled from 12 frequencies to 24 if the MED goes for the full quota, making the the orbit even more viable.

"It was an oversight. I was the regulator at the time of the World Radio Conference in 2000 and I admit we made a mistake in not taking up the whole 24 frequencies," says Moody.

She says the new IPStar-1 launch planned by Shin Satellite for early 2005 is a major competitor but believes NZLSat could provide stronger signal and a more affordable ‘in-home installation’.

IPStar-1 eyes more than rural

Shin Satellite has signed a five year deal with both ICONZ and Timaru-based ISP BayCity to wholesale its services and has already landed container loads of external antennae and internal access equipment from Thailand and begun training installers

Shin is to spend $15 million building an earth station at Albany near Auckland to manage the three spot beams over New Zealand. The satellite which has 18 gateways across Asia will cover one third of the earth.

As an interim measure Shin is using transponder space on the New Sky 5 satellite for local coverage but has its hopes pinned on a $US350-million next generation satellite - the largest ever built, weighing in at 6,700kg.

Shin Satellite, a division of telecommunications conglomerate Shin Corp, was founded by Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. His brother in law Bhanapot Damapong is chairman of the board and the major shareholder.

Local agency IPStar New Zealand, has through its relationship with internet service provider ICONZ been selected as the Project Probe partner to deliver broadband to 63 rural schools. ICONZ is buying wholesale bandwidth from IPStar and satellite antennae and customer premises equipment from Shin in Thailand.

IPStar New Zealand director, John Humphry believes the opportunity is far larger than the 5 per cent of outlying users quoted by some players – he believes it could be greater than 15 per cent.

While the price will initially be out of reach for some he believes the total market is growing as more people want to go beyond dial up connections. "I see it as a series of concentric circles – the innermost is DSL with a 4-5km radius from an exchange, outside of that wireless may work if there’s a concentration of population but as soon as the population base starts to thin or there’s geographic or distance change that’s where satellite kicks in."

Currently he’s using transponder space on New Skies 5 but when IPStar-1 goes lives it’ll offer much greater capacity to 1.2 metre and 80cm antennae depending on strength of coverage.

Mr Humphrey says the dynamic linking between the satellite and the ground station means the management system can detect when there is a weather front moving up the country or focus in on one particular uses connection if need be. The system automatically predicts the fall off of availability and compensates by boosting the power to those areas.

He says the equipment needs to be professionally installed and admits the low aspect to the horizon may mean it doesn’t work in all cases, particularly where there is dense bush or wind breaks or neighbouring houses blocking access.

"Where necessary we will look to do remote installs in a weatherproof box so people can place the antennae on a cowshed for example as long as there is power and run an Ethernet cable back to the house. "There will be the odd farm house on the hill facing east with a steep hill to the west which will be a major challenge."

Digital TV is not on the menu yet although in a year’s time specialised services may meet niche demands for content delivery such as business TV and training videos. Meantime the majority of users simply want plain old vanilla internet access although its expected businesses with remote offices may use the system to run a secure business VPN for access to their intranet, or video conference. While voice has been demonstrated as equal to cellular reception voice on its own will not be promoted immediately.

However Mr Humphrey believes a lot of people will hang Wi-fi equipment off their satellite connection to expand their connection throughout the house, to outer buildings and even neighbouring properties.

ICONZ sees itself in both the satellite and Wifi business and in building a network of resellers around the country will invite smaller outlets such as computer ships. "We’ll be more than happy to supply them with dishes to sell to farmers, businesses, forestry companies or anyone else," says Matthew Sollis, ICONZ IPStar project manager.

ICONZ hadn’t worked out a billing model for moving beyond the schools but it’s unlikely to be uncapped. "We’re putting out flyers to the community and working with the schools to extend bandwidth to the wider community. Of course you have to keep an eye on the usage as you get more customers on," says Mr Sollis. It has to have all the schools covered by June 2005.

Schools then on to community

ICONZ is working with installation company Astute to install CPE and external 1.2 metre dishes at schools or optional smaller 80cm dishes once the next generation satellites begin operation early in 2005.

To guard against power spikes UPS will be supplied with the first satellite connection and possibly the second if it’s a relay into a cove or a valley.

The other wholesaler BayCity is in partnership with Ericsson to supply equipment on an ‘as needs’ basis. The ISP has been in business since 1997 and expanded its business to include broadband and installation of its FarmSide e-farming solutions. It will target farms, residences and businesses throughout rural New Zealand and the outlying islands with the broadband service.

Ericsson general manager of marketing Steve Inglis believes once the new satellite is launched the appeal may be much wider than just mopping up the last rural bits. "While the focus will initially be on remote areas it would be ideal for regions, small towns or centres, depending on pricing of bandwidth and the cost of CPE."

Mr Inglis says there have been enquiries from emergency services wanting a failsafe service in case of earthquake or storm.

Ericsson will act as integrator and equipment provider. It has not previously used these skills in New Zealand but has teams in remote Australia connecting base station backhaul via satellite for cellular networks.

"This is the first satellite with IP broadband services in mind, the others have tended to be broadcast satellites with IP services overlaid. The smarts in this one will be on the ground rather than in the air enabling a high level of management including the ability to upload new applications or services."

Mr Inglis says Ericsson has trialed voice between Auckland and three other locations using the first generation IPStar and performance was good.

Satellite operators are challenging the view that only 5 per cent of the population is out of range of DSL or wireless services suggesting up to 15 per cent of the population may not have adequate access to broadband coverage. It’s also alleged wireless providers including Whoosh and BCL haven’t yet delivered on promises to provide competitive services in many areas where satellite could do a better job.

Over the next 18 months satellite could move to the front line as in-fill technology to get to areas where current broadband coverage is unreliable or non-existence and even help some ISPs get around the monopoly stranglehold on last mile connections.

The next generation of satellite providers are unlikely to be locked into providing broadband internet to the backblocks, they’re likely to give some wireless providers a run for their money.

IPStar New Zealand director, John Humphry believes the 5-10 per cent estimate of users who can’t get access to DSL or wireless is probably more like 15 per cent.

While he agrees the price will be out of reach for some people he believes the total market is growing as more people want to go beyond dial up connections. "I see it as a series of concentric circles – the innermost one is DSL with a 4-5km radius from an exchange, outside of that wireless may work if there’s a concentration of population but as soon as the population base starts to thin or there’s geographic or distance change that’s where satellite kicks in."

"I don’t think we’re in the DSL space but in 2005 when the cost of kit comes down and bandwidth reduces in cost IPStar could begin seriously addressing competition in the wireless market."

A corporate network with 50 sites - 30 DSL, 10 wireless and 10 satellite - may find that a difficult network to manage so we may offer them a bulk deal to go with satellite."

Currently the company is using transponder space on New Skies 5 but when IPStar-1 goes live in February next year it’ll offer 30 times the capacity which he says will bring the cost of bandwidth down dramatically.

Humphrey believes a lot of people will hang Wifi equipment off their satellite connection to expand connection throughout the house and even neighbouring properties. "A small beach community or a bunch of retirees in small communities may share the cost of putting in an 802.11 network."

That’s exactly the idea one of its wholesalers ICONZ has as an extra money spinner. "We definitely see ourselves competing with wireless but not necessarily at the same price point," says Matthew Sollis, ICONZ IPStar project manager.

While its goal is to get to the 63 schools in outlying regions as part of its Project Probe commitments it’s keen to leverage schools to get to outlying townships and residences and also preparing to get into the Wi-fi business using 802.11g technology.

The meshing equipment it uses can expand coverage up to 20kms. "Each house could act as the next relay point for the next person who wants it creating a local loop in the community. That’s quite good for New Zealand topography. You of course keep an eye on the usage as you get more customers on it."