Australian telco NBN Co. and Amazon have announced an agreement to bring wholesale LEO broadband to 300,000+ regional, rural, and remote Australian customers for an undisclosed sum.

Amazon intends to launch its Kuiper service in Australia from the middle of 2026, which NBN will transition to, ultimately exiting its existing geostationary broadband service with Sky Muster.

Eligible, existing, and new customers within NBN’s existing satellite footprint will be offered wholesale, residential-grade, fixed-price LEO satellite broadband via participating retail service providers.

“Transitioning from two geostationary satellites to a constellation of Low Earth Orbit satellites will help to ensure the NBN network is future-ready and delivers the best possible broadband experience to customers living and working in parts of regional, rural, and remote Australia,” said Ellie Sweeney, CEO at NBN Co. in a statement. “By upgrading to next-generation LEO satellite broadband powered by Project Kuiper, we are working to bring the best available technology to Aussies in the bush.”

NBN is a state-owned corporation set up to design, build, and operate Australia’s National Broadband Network to enable subsidized wholesale broadband for the country. The company is poised to run a set of consultations with retail service providers and regional stakeholders to understand what speeds and upgrades are required, with offers of no-cost installations for certain equipment, and to calculate what prices will suit its partners.

Launched in 2015 and 2016, the Sky Muster satellites are two geostationary (GEO) communications satellites operated by NBN Co Limited and built by SSL. The satellites are expected to remain viable and operational until approximately 2032.

NBN said earlier this year it was exploring potential partnerships with LEO satellite operators, saying at the time Sky Muster remained a "critical part" of its network. However, the telco this week said it was now "exploring its options" regarding what to do with the machines once all existing customers have been transitioned to its new Kuiper-powered wholesale LEO satellite offering.

Kuiper expansion

Project Kuiper, Amazon’s effort to roll out a competitive LEO broadband constellation, initially intended to comprise 3,236 satellites, of which only 78 are in orbit today, will serve as Starlink’s most prominent competitor, as a big-tech billionaire-backed service.

"We’ve designed Project Kuiper to be the most advanced satellite system ever built, and we’re combining that innovation with Amazon’s long track record of making everyday life better for customers. We’re proud to be working with NBN to bring Kuiper to even more customers and communities across Australia and look forward to creating new opportunities for hundreds of thousands of people in rural and remote parts of the country,” said Rajeev Badyal, vice president of technology at Amazon's Project Kuiper.

With the intent to offer mercenary early pricing to blitzscale market share, Kuiper appears prepared to expand at a loss in its early years of operation, as Amazon itself did, though the company may hold an edge beyond economics.

To date, Amazon has signed deals for Kuiper with Vodafone and Vodacom, Verizon, and Vrio. An AWS deal with mining company Gold Fields mentioned using Kuiper for connectivity at its remote locations. Airbus is to provide in-flight connectivity (IFC) services using Kuiper.

“Bezos is not the lightning rod Musk has become,” an expert in satellite M&A recently told DCD. “We can expect that to translate into market effects in the anglosphere.”