Viewer Access Satellite Television - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Viewer Access Satellite Television service, or VAST, is a satellite television

Satellite television

Satellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an...

platform in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, providing digital television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

and radio

Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...

services to remote and black spot areas using the Optus C1

Optus fleet of satellites

This is a list of the satellites operated by Optus, an Australian telecommunications company. The satellite communications facility is located at Belrose on Sydney’s Northern Beaches.-A-Class:*Satellite Type: Hughes HS-376...

satellite. It is partly funded by the Australian Government and managed through a joint-venture between Southern Cross Media and Imparja Television. It is a replacement for Optus Aurora

Optus Aurora

Optus Aurora is a free-to-view satellite television platform in Australia, aimed at providing television and radio services to remote and black spot areas using the Optus C1 and B3 satellites...

and provides channels which have been absent on free-to-view satellite until now, such as a Network Ten

Network Ten

Network Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...

affiliate, and the digital multichannels. Viewers accessing the service must use a VAST certified satellite television set-top box

Set-top box

A set-top box or set-top unit is an information appliance device that generally contains a tuner and connects to a television set and an external source of signal, turning the signal into content which is then displayed on the television screen or other display device.-History:Before the...

and smartcard, and go through an application process.

History

On 10 January 2010, the Australian Government announced a new satellite service to deliver digital television and radio channels to Australian viewers who reside in remote, rural and black spot areas. Initially, the service was only available to viewers in and around Mildura, Victoria, to coincide with Australia's first analog television switch-off. On 15 December 2010, the service was made available to viewers in the existing Remote Central and Eastern zone. In April 2011, the Western VAST service began for Regional and Remote Western Australia viewers.

Availability

Anyone is entitled to view ABC and SBS transmissions on the VAST service, after completeing a successful application, regardless of location within Australia.

Several different groups of people are currently entitled to use the VAST service to receive commercial stations:

Those who live in areas designated as being part of the Remote Central & Eastern Australia licence area.
Those who live outside the Remote Central & Eastern Australia licence area, but have approval to view the existing Optus Aurora service; due to being in a signal black spot.
Those who live outside the Remote Central & Eastern Australia licence area, and do not have Optus Aurora approval, may apply for VAST from 6 months before the switchover in their license area.¹
Those who are traveling in the Remote Central & Eastern Australia licence area may apply for temporary approval.
Those who live in specified areas of Regional and Remote Western Australia, may apply for approval to view the interim VAST service there, as it is not yet rolled out completely in WA.

¹- It is possible to apply for the Optus Aurora service instead, and then move to VAST before the 6 month period preceding digital switchover in the applicable license area.

Channels

VAST provides a minimum of 16 digital television channels to viewers, the same number of channels available in metropolitan terrestrial areas. All ABC and SBS channels are available in separate state feeds. The commercial channels are provided by Southern Cross Media

QQQ

QQQ is an Australian television station broadcasting in remote eastern, southern and central areas of Australia.QQQ may also refer to:* QQQ , a fictional character in the F-Zero video game series...

, Imparja Television

Imparja Television

Imparja Television is an Australian television network servicing remote eastern and central Australia, that began broadcasting on 2 January 1988. It is based in Alice Springs, where it has a studio and satellite uplink facility. Notably, it is controlled by Australian Aborigines through ownership...

, Golden West Network

Golden West Network

GWN7 is an Australian television network owned by the Prime Media Group that is based in Bunbury, Western Australia. The Golden West Network launched on 10 March 1967 as BTW-3 in Bunbury, and has since expanded to cover regional and remote Western Australia, servicing all areas except metropolitan...

and WIN Television

WOW (TV station)

WOW is an Australian television station licensed to WIN Television, serving regional and remote Western Australia. The station officially commenced transmissions on 26 March 1999 as the second commercial regional broadcaster in Western Australia, alongside former monopoly, Golden West Network...

Zones

There are three zones on the VAST service:

West- covering WA
North- covering QLD and NT
South- covering all remaining states and territories

The zones define which channels are able to be viewed from a viewers location, commercial channels from other zones are unable to be viewed. These zone restrictions are designed to protect the interests of the networks, advertisers and sports rights holders. The zone restrictions do not apply to ABC and SBS channels.

Channel Table

LCN	Channel Name [National Broadcasters]	Channel Name [Eastern Commercial Broadcasters]¹	LCN (West)	Channel Name [Western Commercial Broadcasters]²	LCN
2	ABC1 ABC1 ABC1 was a United Kingdom based television channel from Disney using the branding of the Disney owned American network, ABC.The channel initially launched exclusively on the British digital terrestrial television platform Freeview on 27 September 2004. On 10 December 2004 it was launched on...	7	Southern Cross Central QQQ QQQ is an Australian television station broadcasting in remote eastern, southern and central areas of Australia.QQQ may also refer to:* QQQ , a fictional character in the F-Zero video game series...	6	GWN7	4	Regional News Guide
24	ABC News 24 ABC News 24 ABC News 24 is an Australian 24-hour news channel launched and owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The channel replaced the former ABC High Definition simulcast of ABC1 and commenced broadcasting at 7:30pm 5:30 on Thursday, 22 July 2010.-Pre-launch:The ABC announced in January 2010...	72	7Two 7Two 7TWO is an Australian free-to-air standard definition digital television channel which was launched by the Seven Network on Sunday 1 November 2009 at 12pm....	62	7Two 7Two 7TWO is an Australian free-to-air standard definition digital television channel which was launched by the Seven Network on Sunday 1 November 2009 at 12pm....	4xx	Regional News Feeds⁴
22	ABC2 ABC2 ABC2 is a national public television channel in Australia. Launched on 7 March 2005, it is the responsibility of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's television division, and is available nationally to digital television viewers in Australia... /ABC 4 Kids ABC 4 Kids ABC 4 Kids is a preschool children's block, broadcast on the Australian television channel ABC2. Launched on 2 May 2011, it is the responsibility of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's television division, and is available nationally to digital television viewers in Australia...	70	7mate 7mate 7mate is an Australian free-to-air high definition digital television channel, which was launched by the Seven Network on 25 September 2010.The network stated that 7mate would contain sport and regular programs aimed primarily at a male audience, with programming drawn from a combination of new...	63	7mate 7mate 7mate is an Australian free-to-air high definition digital television channel, which was launched by the Seven Network on 25 September 2010.The network stated that 7mate would contain sport and regular programs aimed primarily at a male audience, with programming drawn from a combination of new...	800	VAST Information Channel⁵
23	ABC3 ABC3 -Future shows:Programming confirmed for future broadcast will include:* After School Care * Bindi's Boot Camp * Bushwacked! * Dance Academy * Dancing Down Under... ⁵	9	Imparja	8	WIN WA WOW (TV station) WOW is an Australian television station licensed to WIN Television, serving regional and remote Western Australia. The station officially commenced transmissions on 26 March 1999 as the second commercial regional broadcaster in Western Australia, alongside former monopoly, Golden West Network...
3	SBS One	90	GEM GEM (Australian TV channel) GEM is an Australian free-to-air high definition digital television channel, launched by the Nine Network on Sunday 26 September 2010 at 6am...	80	GEM GEM (Australian TV channel) GEM is an Australian free-to-air high definition digital television channel, launched by the Nine Network on Sunday 26 September 2010 at 6am...
30	SBS HD	99	GO! Go! (Australian TV channel) GO! is an Australian free-to-air standard definition digital television channel launched by the Nine Network on Sunday 9 August 2009.-Origins:...	88	GO! Go! (Australian TV channel) GO! is an Australian free-to-air standard definition digital television channel launched by the Nine Network on Sunday 9 August 2009.-Origins:...
32	SBS Two	10	Ten Central Central Digital Television Central Digital Television is a digital television station broadcasting in remote central and eastern Australia. It is jointly owned by the Southern Cross Media Group and Imparja Television Pty Ltd and is an affiliate of Network Ten and Southern Cross Ten. It is similar to services already...	5	Ten West Ten West Ten West is the official name for a digital television station broadcasting in rural Western Australia. It is jointly owned by the WIN Corporation and Prime Television Limited and is an affiliate of Network Ten, broadcasting a direct feed of NEW-10 from Perth....
		1	One	50	One
2xx/3xx	ABC/SBS State Feeds³	11	Eleven Eleven (TV channel) Eleven is an Australian free-to-air standard definition digital television channel, which was launched by ElevenCo, on 11 January 2011.-Joint venture:...	55	Eleven Eleven (TV channel) Eleven is an Australian free-to-air standard definition digital television channel, which was launched by ElevenCo, on 11 January 2011.-Joint venture:...

Notes:

1. Eastern Zones commercial broadcasts are subdivided into a North and South station. (eg. Imparja North, Imparja South)
2. Western Australia Affiliate
3. National/Commercial Broadcasters for regions other than where your decoder is registered are given other three digit LCNs. Of these; the interstate ABC/SBS feeds are viewable, while the commercial feeds are not.
4. See Table Below. All regional news feeds are viewable regardless of where your decoder is registered.
5. Broadcast Free-to-View, therefore an activated card is not required to view these stations. They can also be used by an installer to confirm the service is working correctly.

Regional News Table