Homes and businesses in Durack will soon be able to access more data on their Sky Muster satellite services, with NBN Co to provide additional broadband data from 1 April 2020.

NBN Co will offer permanent enhancements to its Sky Muster Plus offering, and a temporary increase to data allowances for standard Sky Muster plans to support the increased data needs of rural and regional Australians in response to COVID-19.

Federal Member for Durack, the Honourable Melissa Price has welcomed the decision.

“It’s particularly important for an electorate like Durack as we all adapt to new ways of living working and educating our children, to help keep businesses, families and students connected. We anticipate higher than usual internet usage across the NBN, in regional and remote areas,” Ms Price said.

The extra data that NBN Co is making available over the Sky Muster satellites – both permanent enhancements adding greater flexibility on Sky Muster Plus and the short term data boost on standard Sky Muster plans – will offer relief to regional and remote communities as their internet needs change over the coming weeks.

The NBN plays a critically important role in keeping rural and regional Australians connected, and this is particularly true as we face uncertain times,” Ms Price said.

Sky Muster Plus currently offers unmetered usage for selected internet essentials including web browsing, emails and internet banking. From 1 April, unmetered activities will be expanded to cover all online content and applications, with only two exclusions – video streaming and VPN traffic – which will continue to be metered.

Under the new offering, approximately 70 per cent of all data use is expected to be unmetered compared to about 30 per cent under the current plans, and the product will support unmetered usage for education applications and apps such as Skype and FaceTime for the first time.

For more information about the Sky Muster Plus satellite service visit: www.nbnco.com.au