Poor communication around the Sky Muster program and where customers can get help, as well as what improvements lie in store, are brewing a bubble of discontent in regional areas.
‘Didn’t you know? Maybe you should have asked’ seems to be the modus operandi for the NBN Company and the federal government as they continue the $1.8 billion satellite Sky Muster service roll-out.
Sky Muster II satellite comes on stream in February 2017, significantly boosting capacity, yet, many existing customers still have genuine questions about how Sky Muster I operates, and whether the new satellite will change anything?
If Sky Muster I is anything to go by, don’t hold your breath. Drop-outs, constant rebooting, slow set-up, overloading of the service during school holidays, a day to download an app, are just some of the customer gripes.
Under the fair use policy, NBN Co must ensure the capacity is allocated fairly among the 400,000 expected customers. Fair enough, but customers shouldn’t have to keep paying for a service that under delivers – that’s a hallmark of the system we’re replacing. Purchasing a 25 megabit per second download is a rip-off if the infrastructure can only deliver at 6mb/sec. So where do you go to complain?
During the course of interviews for this week’s stories on the roll-out of Sky Muster, The Land stumbled across a hotline – yes, one exists. This has been as poorly communicated to customers as the vast array of fixes, fixers and software patches being applied to the Sky Muster system as we speak, all of which should improve network stability.
Other “add-ons” in development include systems for farm utes or for remote workers, which will allow broadband service on-the-go, like a mobile hot spot. In a world where most of the population is glued to its whiz-bang communications devices, you’d reckon the government would have got the message out about these.
After all, practicality sells in agriculture. When farmers buy other products for their businesses – such as a new tractor – back-up support is an important factor and is often part of the marketing. A breakdown can cost a lot of money in idle staff and gear and lost production.
The same goes for the internet. Farmers need good back-up support.
- Contact the hotline, 1800 687 626
