Sky Muster satellite users are set to receive around 50 per cent more peak data and twice as much off-peak data from October, Parkes MP Mark Coulton has announced.
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It means customers could be able to purchase more than 100 gigabytes a month of peak data for the first time.
Mr Coulton said the government would assist NBN to provide the extra data at no extra cost to retailers.
“Despite some cases of people having difficulty with teething problems, once they are through this phase, Sky Muster is delivering a very good service,” he said.
“I would encourage anyone in the Sky Muster footprint to seriously investigate joining this service.
“The impact of more people turning to Sky Muster should also help to take some of the demand for data off the mobile network.”
He said issues around Sky Muster data had been raised by Regional Development Minister Senator Fiona Nash and Communications Minister Senator Mitch Fifield at an NBN Co board meeting a few months ago.
An extra 35 gigabytes of peak data would allow, for example, a business to do 50 more hours of high definition videoconferencing with colleagues and clients, or a student to do 25 more hours of watching university lectures each month.
Senator Nash said the government had already doubled the data available to Sky Muster users by using the second satellite rather than have it orbit the earth as a backup.
The announcement follows a huge improvement in Sky Muster stability, with outages down 90 per cent in April compared to September 2016.
National Farmers' Federation President and Rural, Regional and Remote Communications Coalition spokeswoman Fiona Simson welcomed the announcement.
“The Rural, Regional and Remote Communications Coalition commends NBN and the government for listening to the frustrations of our members and acting to address their concerns,” Ms Simson said.
“We hope that the plans will continue to adapt to address future needs of bush consumers.”
