Saturn Communications
Encyclopedia
Saturn Communications are an innovative Australian ICT integrator based in Hobart Tasmania. They service Southern Tasmania as well as most parts of Northern Tasmania. Saturn Communications are playing a key role in providing high quality services via the nationwide rollout of fibre optics (National Broadband Network
).
Saturn Communications was a company based in Petone
in the Hutt Valley that built and operated a cable television
and telephone services in and around Wellington
and then later in Christchurch
.
The network was based on Hybrid Fibre Coaxial cable with additional twisted pair
cabling to provide telephone services. The network was developed in competition with a network rolled out and later scuttled by Telecom New Zealand
known as First Media.
Saturn Communications was originally known as Kiwi Cable Limited and based on the Kapiti Coast
north of Wellington. The company was formed by a local entrepreneur. The company was purchased by Austar United Communications an Australian pay television operator and its headquarters moved and an aggressive network rollout planned.
Austar's entry into the New Zealand market was predicated on the fact that prices for cable TV and telecommunications services were sufficiently above the average cost of producing them because of the respective near monopolies of Telecom New Zealand Limited in the local telephone market and Sky Communications in the pay television market. Telecom New Zealand responded aggressively by discounting telephone service in areas where the competing service was available.
After the merger with Telstra Australia there were plans to offer pay television via a satellite DTH (Direct To Home) service due for launch in August 2001 with rollout across the country over the following months however at the beginning of August TelstraSaturn announced that the service was to be put on hold indefinitely.
Saturn's DTH service was to operate on two transponders held by Television New Zealand. A portion of the transponder capacity was to be held by TVNZ for its own free to air broadcasts with the remainder being used for the TelstraSaturn's pay television services.
After the purchase of Clear Communications
and by Austar of its shareholding in the renamed TelstraClear
the company's focus moved squarly to telecommunications and away from television services, notably reselling existing Telecom services. A programming agreement was struck with Sky Television to broadcast its channels and plans to expand the cable and telephone networks were cancelled as a change in Government lead to the possibility of local loop unbundling.
National Broadband Network
The National Broadband Network is a national wholesale-only, open-access data network under development in Australia. Up to one gigabit per second connections are sold to retail service providers , who then sell Internet access and other services to consumers...
).
Saturn Communications was a company based in Petone
Petone
Petone is a major suburb of the city of Lower Hutt in New Zealand. It is located at the southern end of the narrow triangular plain of the Hutt River, on the northern shore of Wellington Harbour...
in the Hutt Valley that built and operated a cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
and telephone services in and around Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
and then later in Christchurch
Christchurch
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
.
The network was based on Hybrid Fibre Coaxial cable with additional twisted pair
Twisted pair
Twisted pair cabling is a type of wiring in which two conductors are twisted together for the purposes of canceling out electromagnetic interference from external sources; for instance, electromagnetic radiation from unshielded twisted pair cables, and crosstalk between neighboring pairs...
cabling to provide telephone services. The network was developed in competition with a network rolled out and later scuttled by Telecom New Zealand
Telecom New Zealand
Telecom New Zealand is a New Zealand-wide communications service provider , providing fixed line telephone services, a mobile network, an internet service provider , a major ICT provider to NZ businesses , and a wholesale network infrastructure provider to other NZ CSPs...
known as First Media.
Saturn Communications was originally known as Kiwi Cable Limited and based on the Kapiti Coast
Kapiti Coast
The Kapiti Coast is the name of the section of the coast of the south-western North Island of New Zealand that is north of Wellington and opposite Kapiti Island. It falls under the jurisdiction of the Wellington Regional Council...
north of Wellington. The company was formed by a local entrepreneur. The company was purchased by Austar United Communications an Australian pay television operator and its headquarters moved and an aggressive network rollout planned.
Austar's entry into the New Zealand market was predicated on the fact that prices for cable TV and telecommunications services were sufficiently above the average cost of producing them because of the respective near monopolies of Telecom New Zealand Limited in the local telephone market and Sky Communications in the pay television market. Telecom New Zealand responded aggressively by discounting telephone service in areas where the competing service was available.
After the merger with Telstra Australia there were plans to offer pay television via a satellite DTH (Direct To Home) service due for launch in August 2001 with rollout across the country over the following months however at the beginning of August TelstraSaturn announced that the service was to be put on hold indefinitely.
Saturn's DTH service was to operate on two transponders held by Television New Zealand. A portion of the transponder capacity was to be held by TVNZ for its own free to air broadcasts with the remainder being used for the TelstraSaturn's pay television services.
After the purchase of Clear Communications
Clear Communications
Clear Communications was a telecommunications company based in New Zealand. Until merging into Telstra's operations in 2001, it was the biggest rival to Telecom New Zealand....
and by Austar of its shareholding in the renamed TelstraClear
TelstraClear
TelstraClear is New Zealand's second-largest telecommunications company and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Telstra Corporation , with around 400,000 customers....
the company's focus moved squarly to telecommunications and away from television services, notably reselling existing Telecom services. A programming agreement was struck with Sky Television to broadcast its channels and plans to expand the cable and telephone networks were cancelled as a change in Government lead to the possibility of local loop unbundling.