Gravity and Kacific partner to bring broadband to rural NZ

Gravity Internet (Gravity) and Kacific Broadband Satellites Group (Kacific) have signed a 3-year deal which will bring competition to the rural satellite broadband market.

This deal will shake up New Zealand's broadband market by allowing Gravity to leverage one of the newest and most powerful satellites in the Pacific to offer competitive broadband packages to New Zealand homes and businesses outside the reach of fibre.

It will make Gravity one of the largest users of satellite bandwidth in New Zealand.

The Kacific1 satellite, which is just months away from commencing service, will have three high throughput beams pointed at New Zealand, providing coverage to anywhere on the three main islands.

Gravity has committed to a portion of the capacity of each beam and will increase capacity as its customer-base continues to grow.

"Our message to rural and digitally disenfranchised New Zealanders is simple: your wait for faster broadband will soon be over," says Gravity co-founder Tim Johnson.

"Once Kacific1 is launched and commissioned we'll be able to install a dish, get you connected, and you can start streaming on speeds of up to 50mbps. You will no longer be in a hold queue waiting for fibre to be rolled out or cell sites to be constructed.

"The Kacific1 satellite will open the throttle on satellite broadband. We'll be offering customers greater capacity, which brings greater speeds," says Johnson.

Gravity distributes internet services to 1.2 metre dishes, which maximises quality of service.

The dishes are designed to work in extra-urban and remote places and can even be solar powered. Gravity's customers can use satellite internet for a range of activities from online banking, commerce and communications, to streaming video and making video-calls.

"We are very pleased that Gravity has selected Kacific for its bandwidth retail solution in New Zealand," says Kacific CEO Christian Patouraux.

"With its bandwidth, its simple antenna deployment and its price point, Kacific1 is an ideal for the provision of both remote and rural internet services," says Patouraux.

Kacific New Zealand sales vice president Matteo Catanuto says, "Kacific's retailers across the Pacific are getting great responses and seeing real social and trade benefits through connecting health clinics, schools, small businesses and residents.

"These retailers are also providing business continuity solutions and connectivity resilience, to help businesses deal with fibre cuts for example.

"We're looking forward to Gravity bringing a superior experience to some of the Kiwis who've been left with substandard internet for far too long.

Kacific1 is a next-generation, high-throughput satellite (HTS) with 56 spot beams streaming broadband to more than 25 nations.

Kacific1 is in the final testing phase at Boeing and will be launched into orbit on a SpaceX rocket towards the end of 2019.