SYDNEY — In a statement released Thursday, February 19, 2026, NBN Co launched an industry consultation on wholesale pricing for its upcoming residential Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite service, powered by Amazon Leo (formerly Project Kuiper).
The move is a strategic attempt to lock in regional customers before a full-scale migration from the aging Sky Muster geostationary (GEO) fleet begins later this year.
The government-owned wholesaler is proposing an aggressive “introductory” price tier for existing satellite customers who upgrade early. Under the proposal, a new 50/10 Mbps LEO plan would be offered to retailers at a wholesale price of $35.84 per month—a rate designed to be equal to or lower than current Sky Muster Plus pricing.
Strategic Migration and “Amazon Leo” Integration
The partnership with Amazon, first announced in August 2025, positions NBN Co to compete directly with SpaceX’s Starlink, which currently dominates the Australian LEO market. Key parameters of the transition include:
- Consolidated Tiers: NBN Co plans to fold its existing 12/1 Mbps and 25/5 Mbps Sky Muster tiers into a single 50/10 Mbps LEO-based service.
- Hardware Incentives: To accelerate the shift, NBN Co is proposing to provide and install the new Amazon Leo receiving equipment at no cost to eligible existing customers.
- Footprint: The service is expected to cover approximately 300,000 users in regional, rural, and remote Australia who lack access to fixed-line or fixed-wireless infrastructure.
Technical Performance and Resilience
The shift to Amazon Leo’s LEO constellation—which currently has more than 150 satellites in orbit and is scaling toward a 3,200-satellite mesh network—will provide significantly lower latency compared to the 600ms+ delay inherent in GEO satellites.
“We want all eligible customers, delivery partners and regional communities to be ready for a smooth transition,” said Gavin Williams, NBN Co Chief Development Officer, Regional & Remote. He noted that the LEO service is designed to deliver “city-fast” broadband to the most remote areas of the continent.
Timeline to 2030
NBN Co has established a multi-year roadmap for the complete decommissioning of its legacy satellite infrastructure.
- July – September 2026: Proof-of-concept trials are scheduled to begin in Tasmania.
- Q4 2026: Expected commencement of the full commercial rollout.
- Q4 2027: Deadline for the bulk of customer migrations to the LEO network.
- 2028 – 2030: Decommissioning of the two Sky Muster geostationary satellites, which are projected to reach end-of-life by the early 2030s.
Ellie Sweeney, CEO of NBN Co, emphasized that this transition is critical to ensuring the network remains “future-ready” and resilient. While Sky Muster will continue to operate until at least 2028 to ensure continuity, the company is already exploring options for the legacy assets once the transition to Amazon’s LEO network is finalized.