Vocus today unveiled the availability of bonding for Vocus Satellite – Starlink services, offering metro fibre-like internet speeds with coverage across all of Australia’s 7.7 million square kilometres. The solution merges multiple Vocus Satellite – Starlink connections together, boosting bandwidth for customers who need extreme speed and reliability.

Saves communication link for mine site operations after fire at remote repeater tower

Vocus customer Heathgate Resources experienced the transformative impact of bonded Vocus Satellite – Starlink services at its remote Beverley site, 650km from Adelaide, when a fire broke out in the nearby Gammon Ranges, damaging the microwave communication tower the company normally uses for its primary connectivity.

The month prior to the fire, Vocus had installed eight Starlink terminals, bonded together to provide up to 1.3Gbps downstream and up to 200Mbps upstream throughput. Heathgate wanted to improve the connectivity for its 250 workers, to improve their connection with loved ones at home during their free time.

However, the newly installed service was able to be seamlessly repurposed to support the mine site’s entire operation.

"The off-site microwave communications tower was badly damaged, with solar panels and communication equipment destroyed by the fire," explained Hugh Banister, CIO at Heathgate Resources. "However, thanks to the bonded Vocus Satellite – Starlink services, the mine site experienced no loss of production, network availability or connectivity.”

“Previously, our redundant communication option was a limited 2Mb/s satellite link,” said Banister. “During outages, business communications were restricted to essential safety and operational services. The bonded Vocus Satellite – Starlink service has significantly improved our situation, allowing the mine site to keep operating even in unforeseen circumstances.”

The “bond anything, go anywhere” solution

The new solution can bond multiple connection types – like mobile networks or other low earth orbit satellite providers – with Vocus Satellite - Starlink, creating unparalleled redundancy across diverse network infrastructure.

It works just as well on moving vehicles, making it ideal for first responders and emergency services where people’s lives depend on communication.

How it’s different to previous bonding technology

“While there are other link aggregation solutions on the market, many send data from each application over just one connection at a time,” explains Ashley Grove, Satellite Development Manager, Vocus.

“That’s like having a multi-lane highway but only using one of the lanes for a single application like a video call. Vocus bonded Satellite – Starlink services use all the ‘lanes’ at the same time, allowing all the bandwidth to be used at once by any application.

“This changes the landscape in Australian telecommunications,” Grove said. “We can join multiple connection types together and present it to the customer as a single internet connection to use all the combined bandwidth at once. It’s available anywhere in Australia, and it works just as well on moving vehicles as fixed ground-based installations.”

Nationwide availability and expert support

The new solution uses Peplink bonding technology, available now nationwide through Vocus.

"We are proud to be among the first providers globally to offer this ground-breaking bonding solution with Starlink services in collaboration with our expert partners," said Dominic Hughes, Head of Indirect Channels at Vocus.

"This service is a game-changer, particularly for customers requiring reliable connectivity in remote locations."

Bonded Vocus Satellite - Starlink services are fully managed, carrier-grade solutions supported by Vocus and its partner MIMP with an enterprise service level agreement (SLA). Additionally, these services offer static IP addresses (not available on Starlink services generally), a valuable feature for organisations requiring consistent network addressing.

For more information on Vocus Satellite - Starlink bonded services, visit vocus.com.au/starlink.

Editor’s note: The speed individual customers will achieve using Vocus Satellite – Starlink bonded services will vary depending on the combination of communication technologies chosen and available capacity in the customer’s area.

For further information, please contact Dan Warne on 0421 027 293, dan.warne@vocus.com.au

Vocus, Australia’s specialist fibre and network solutions provider, owns and operates c. 25,000km of secure, high-capacity fibre connecting all Australian mainland capitals with New Zealand, Asia, and the USA. Vocus’ network includes the 4,600km Australia Singapore Cable (ASC) from Perth to Singapore via Indonesia and the 2,100km North West Cable System (NWCS) from Port Hedland to Darwin. Vocus owns a portfolio of well recognised brands catering to enterprise, government, wholesale, small business and residential customers across Australia.