Speedcast, a leading communications and IT services provider, announced  that the company has extended and expanded the STARS  program contract, providing connectivity services across hundreds of sites for the Northern Territory Government in Australia. As part of the expanded scope, Speedcast has introduced its edge compute platform SIGMA, as well as high-performance LEO connectivity from Starlink to enhance the existing geostationary satellite communications-based service. The new hybrid network meets the growing connectivity needs of multiple government agencies, including schools and distance education, police, health and parks and wildlife, across an area of 1.3 million square kilometers (521,000 square miles). The Northern Territory (NT) is a vast, sparsely populated region located in the central and central northern regions of Australia.

Many of the STARS sites will now benefit from the intelligent network and multi-path management tools SIGMA offers, as well as access to value-added services at the edge. Following a successful proof of concept, Speedcast introduced Starlink LEO connectivity to the managed solution as part of an overall shift to a hybrid connectivity approach delivered for NTG. Network traffic lands at the NT-owned teleport operated and managed by Speedcast, located in the capital city of Darwin. The fully managed service is backed by 24×7 support from Speedcast’s Network Operations Center (NOC).

“Reliable connectivity service is essential to a region like the Northern Territory, which we have served for more than a decade,” said James Trevelyan, Executive Vice President, Global Sales & Marketing at Speedcast. “Every technology advancement in the service we deliver to NT has a material impact on the people, businesses and government of the territory and we’re proud of the long-standing partnership that makes it possible.”

As a global network service provider with long-standing roots in Australia, Speedcast has supported a variety of critical Australian government and private organizations, advancing national interests and vision for the future across a variety of sectors. Looking outward, Speedcast services have also supported the Australian Government’s activities in the region, from Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. To learn more, visit www.speedcast.com.