Elon Musk's internet proves an unlikely saviour for some rural Australians suffering connectivity 'fatigue' – ABC News

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Elon Musk's internet proves an unlikely saviour for some rural Australians suffering connectivity 'fatigue'
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From his cattle farm six hours west of Brisbane, Peter Thompson laughs at the idea of replacing his work ute with a Tesla, but he's happy to pay $140 each month into Elon Musk's back pocket.
While Twitter users across the globe have boycotted the billionaire, who controversially bought the social platform before promptly sacking more than 3,000 staff and re-instating Donald Trump's membership, some rural Australians haven't been as quick to knock Musk's products.
Starlink uses thousands of low-orbit satellites to connect people in remote areas and is now available Australia-wide.
Having battled for years with multiple internet modems, data-sharing SIM cards and other wi-fi-boosting gadgets, Mr Thompson was at his wits' end before he was introduced to Musk's internet provider.
"We used to spend an absolute fortune, up to $2,500 per month, to get enough data to operate our farming business," said Mr Thompson, the chair of the National Farmers Federation Telecommunications committee.
The Thompsons installed their own Starlink service in May. They can't believe the difference it has made.
"Put simply, it's bloody fantastic," Mr Thompson said.
"I think everyone has an opinion on Elon Musk the person, but here is a thing that works really, really well for us.
"Before this, we had NBN SkyMuster, but the big issue with that was the very big ping speeds."
A ping speed, or the time it takes for a signal to get to the satellite and back again, is generally about 32 milliseconds.
But Mr Thompson was finding it was about 700 milliseconds on the NBN service.
Now, their internet connection is as fast as in metropolitan and regional areas.
"We've got family and friends in the city that we used to be jealous of because of their [internet connection], but now we're the same as them," Mr Thompson said.
"Now we have speed and reliability, we can do virtual meetings, emails, video streaming — all those things people in town take for granted."
Mr Thompson does, however, acknowledge the cost.
"We probably pay twice what someone would pay in the city," he said.
But he says that, for them, it's all about the context.
"Compared to what we were paying three years ago, and all the systems we had to trial and test, I'm quite happy to pay $140 a month."
On her family-run grain and cattle property near Glenmorgan, on Queensland's Western Downs, it's not the price holding Wendy Henning back from Starlink, it's the thought of changing internet providers again.
"Fatigue is probably a good way to put it," Ms Henning said.
Their internet setup is like a maze, she explains.
The Hennings use NBN SkyMuster Plus for their wi-fi, and regularly rely on their mobile hotspot as a back-up which, because they are in a reception black spot, comes via a Telstra reception booster.
"It means if the power goes out, which it tends to do, we've got no reception and no internet," she said.
Ms Henning said they also need to resort to mobile hotspots when the weather was cloudy or windy.
But she said despite the high price they paid for the complex system, and the poor internet connectivity it provided – she wasn't rushing towards the newest gadget on the market.
"After so many years of different solutions being sold to us as the golden egg of our connection problems, I could be a bit cynical," she said.
Jennifer Medway, who manages the Regional Tech Hub, an independent body that serves rural and remote Australians, said they had received very little negative feedback about Starlink.
"We don't actually hear too many issues, given the fact that [Starlink] don't have Australian shopfronts or that you can't call and speak to someone if you have an issue, you can only email," she said.
She said having a new provider in the Australian market benefited everyone in rural and remote areas, not just those who signed up for it.
"Any competition, or new way of doing business, certainly disrupts the market somewhat, but that's a good thing," she said.
"It certainly encourages the other providers to step up their services to keep up, and I think it does make it a lot easier for similar types of satellite companies to come in."
In a statement, NBN chief development officer Gavin William said Sky Muster satellite had been servicing the most regional and remote parts of Australia since 2015 and played a critical role in enabling connectivity for homes and business across Australia.
"Our customer numbers remain strong and we are continuing to invest to improve the quality and performance of the service.
"In July this year we introduced enhanced data limits on the NBN Sky Muster Plus satellite service which means that now, on average, just over 80 per cent of all internet use for a Sky Muster Plus user doesn't count towards the monthly data quota."
He said the NBN operated in a competitive environment and welcomed choice for people in regional and remote Australia.
Federal Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said the government was committed to ensuring regional Australia had the best options available and had announced the formation of Low Earth Orbit Satellite working group earlier this year.
Ms Rowland said the government had also committed more than $2.2 billion for regional telecommunications over the next five years, including programs to improve mobile coverage and support greater on-farm connectivity for the agricultural sector.
Back at their Roma home, the Thompson family says a reliable internet connection is about more than just Netflix streaming free from buffering.
"We are always looking for ways to attract people to live and work out here, and this is a great one," Mr Thompson said.
His daughter and her husband retreated to the farm during COVID lockdowns and now they both can stay and work remotely.
"It means one person in a couple can work in agriculture and the other can continue their career from here," Mr Thompson said.
"So why not come and live in the country and have some space and fresh air?
"We can honestly nearly say that you'll have good connectivity — possibly even better than what you've got in your little unit in the middle of Brisbane or Sydney."
EDITOR'S NOTE: December 23, 2022: This story has been edited to provide additional information to explain the broader context of remote telecommunications in Australia.
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