Northern Beaches Council has signed a game changing deal for broadband powered by a constellation of satellites in low earth orbit.

Council has signed a new contract with telco Vocus Satellite – Starlink, becoming the first council and first government agency in NSW to access their high-performance satellite broadband service.

Northern Beaches CEO Ray Brownlee said the move will ensure Council can continue to operate and provide critical services to the community when networks are down, especially during emergencies or natural disasters.

“Our community, like the rest of Australia, has experienced its fair share of environmental threats and challenges,” Mr Brownlee said.

“These events have reminded us of the need to plan and prepare for future challenges, as set out in our recent Resilience Strategy. We need to ensure our teams remain operational in times of crisis, so we can continue to provide critical services to the community.

“Satellite broadband is a real game changer for Council. It doesn’t require the traditional infrastructure of cables and fibre optics which can be disrupted during floods and fires.

“We are a Council that is focused on innovation and we are proud to be the first government agency in NSW to sign an agreement with this service provider.”

Integration with Starlink powered broadband will improve Council’s delivery of critical services, including child-care centres and Surf Life Saving clubs.

Council will also avoid heavy costs associated with network engineers troubleshooting unreliable network connections or black spot locations. It will also reduce network downtime thanks to dual reliable links installed at critical locations.

Vocus is the local Australian provider of Starlink. The high-speed connectivity is made possible by a constellation of low earth orbit satellites the size of pizza boxes.