When an island nation stretches over 1,600kms in length along mountainous terrain, it is near impossible to connect every rural and remote community to broadband terrestrial networks. Kacific-1, launching in 2019, will have three high-power spot beams covering New Zealand’s three main islands.

Vice-president of special projects, Adrian Potter, visited New Zealand meeting with government, enterprises and media to talk about options for connecting the long island nation with satellite broadband.

Potter explained to Radio New Zealand, the country’s leading national radio, how Kacific-1 will reach parts of the Pacific that undersea cables can’t.

RNZ – Re-usable rocket to launch Pacific satellite

In an interview with leading national news website, stuff.co.nz, Potter said satellite broadband would fill the broadband gaps not covered by the Government-led Ultrafast Broadband (UFB) fibre cable network.

Stuff – Broadband satellite to launch in late 2019

The National Business Review, also reported that Kacific’s offer brought strong broadband competition to the nation after speaking with Potter.

There is a lot of interest in how our next-generation Kacific-1 satellite can bring wide-reaching broadband capability for use in communications, civil services, tourism, and medical and emergency response to the country’s most remote regions.