Company Report: Australian Satellite Communications Pty. Ltd.
Provider of turnkey solutions ASC’s quick turnaround and varied sectors have made this satellite solutions provider a leading presence in AustralAsia

Australian Satellite Communications

Australian Satellite Communications

Australian Satellite Communications

In the remote communities of Australia’s Northern Territory, many schoolchildren now attend class via computer. Two years ago, the NT government decided it was time to expand its Department of Education and Training distance learning program to new areas ─ with inbound video capability that could enable more interaction with teachers and peers during lessons. Australian Satellite Communications proved the best candidate for the job.

In July 2008, the Adelaide-based turnkey VSAT services and integration company was awarded a five-year contract for the design, supply, installation and commissioning of a broadband VSAT network called the Satellite to All Remote Sites (STARS) project. In January 2009, Interactive Distance Learning (IDL) studios at Charles Darwin University, School of the Air in Katherine and Alice Springs; and NT Open Education Center in Darwin were among the 210-plus sites connected to an iDirect satellite hub located in Darwin via the AsiaSat4 satellite. The network also includes capacity for other government agencies and departments throughout the Northern Territory such as NT Health.  

ASC now provides 24/7 maintenance and technical support to the STARS project with two fulltime staff members at the Service Management Centre in Darwin supported by the ASC’s engineering department in Adelaide and iDirect Technical Assistance Center.  
The STARS project, which led the Australian Telecommunications Users Group (ATUG) to award the NTG a national award for “Effective use of Broadband”, is just one among a long line of successful initiatives that have defined ASC as a premier system integrator and service provider of broadband and IP services via satellite in the Asia-Pacific region.

“A large part of what we do is provide turnkey satellite communication systems for corporate and government agencies operating in remote areas of Australia and the Pacific region,” says Mark Borgas, General Manager and 11-year veteran of the company. “We’re focused mainly on remote area satellite communications. What differentiates us from other service providers in the region is we’re very responsive and flexible in terms of being able to provide high-end communications in very short time frames. We own and operate multiple VSAT satellite HUBs from our own teleport here in Adelaide. We also listen to what customers want instead of pushing solutions on them.”

ASC mainly provides affordable commercial-grade BroadbandIP services, but also offers higher-level dedicated services – single channel per carrier (SCPC) – to its customers.

A LOOK BACK
ASC began as Satellite Services in 1985 with a focus on providing TV receive-only distribution systems for the Australian Outback, channeling local TV stations to new regions. A few years earlier Chris Joseland commenced a new focus on remote radio communication including HF and VHF.

“We started the satellite communications business to coincide with the first broadcast from an AUSSAT satellite launched a couple months earlier over Central Australia,” says Managing Director and founder Chris Joseland, who grew up in remote Australia himself and brought a background in remote area contracting services to the company. “I started the business pretty much single-handedly with my wife joining me on some of the early installations as the PR person. She was a school teacher and was able to connect with a lot of folks about education, use of video and other modern technologies used in teaching isolated children.”

The business quickly expanded to include supply and maintenance of television and radio rebroadcast systems for small rural communities, followed by MobileSat and then VSAT voice and data services, which brought about a name change to ASC.

The company was initially a MobileSat dealer selling equipment and services, and in 1997 became a national distributor for Optus providing equipment, services and support to many dealers throughout Australia. In 2002, ASC Group acquired US equipment supplier Westinghouse Wireless Solutions Company assets to help its ongoing support and repair obligations with Optus.

Today, ASC is an AU$16 million provider of in-house, turnkey satellite services including supply, design, project management and 24/7 maintenance to more than 300 clients in the government, mining, oil and gas, and maritime sectors (including yachting.)

ASC now operates services on multiple iDirect networks out of its own teleport in Adelaide on several different satellites, and has terrestrial connectivity via optical fiber to four major carriers. With an additional hub in Hawaii, ASC is now considered one of the leading VSAT service providers in the region.

COMPANY STRENGTHS
The company’s quality products and services and fast turnaround has helped it combat the satellite industry’s poor reputation ─ created by competitors forming companies that fold a short time later.

“In the last 15 years since we started delivering bandwidth services, there have been at least 10 new companies that are no longer around now. That’s one thing we’re proud of – we’re still around today and doing well. We’ve also invested in building significant employee knowledge so they know as much as possible about the industry and our business,” Joseland says.

ASC’s major focus in the Mining and Oil & Gas segments over the past 10 years has seen it become a leading provider of satellite communications services to the industry including major players such as ConocoPhillips, Woodside Petroleum and Santos and many others. With Conoco Phillips, one of the world’s largest international integrated energy companies with operations in the Bayu Undan field in the Timor Sea between Darwin and Timor Leste, ASC supplied services for drilling, construction and ongoing operations. Back around 2002, ASC started providing services to ConocoPhillips via a fully meshed solution providing single satellite hop voice services between remote sites. Several of those sites were floating vessels that required special satellite antennas that could track the geo-stationary satellite. ASC has developed a long-term relationship with ConocoPhillips providing services to various other vessels over the years and recently upgrading the network to an iDirect mesh network, this time gatewaying traffic in Adelaide and linking into the existing Conoco Phillips terrestrial network rather than landing in Darwin, but still providing full mesh connectivity between the remote sites.

“We’ve also provided our services for a control and monitoring system for multiple gas pipelines throughout Western Australia at over 50 unmanned remote sites,” says Borgas.
“The system was designed and installed with a dedicated VSAT Hub in Perth Hub automatically backed by ASC’s Hub in Adelaide, also operating on two different satellites. It was something cutting-edge at the time, providing multiple levels of redundancy including geographic redundancy.”

ASC’s services were also used for a VSAT network for the Fiji government to connect schools and offices on surrounding islands to the main island, and it’s worked with Geoscience Australia, which is involved in seismic monitoring in the region providing tsunami early warning systems.

TRUSTED PARTNERS & THE FUTURE
ASC has developed a key relationship with iDirect who are regarded as one of the leaders in VSAT technology, and now almost exclusively utilize their VSAT hubs for provision of Broadband IP services. ASC also has strategic supplier agreements with AsiaSat, Intelsat and SAT-GE to provide extensive coverage of the Pacific region and are specialized equipment providers of SeaTel and Tracstar maritime and auto-deploy antenna solutions. One of ASC’s VoIP solutions utilizes another key partner, ISPhone Australasia based in Sydney to gateway the voice traffic from remote VSAT sites.

Innovative software development leader, VersaDev (www.versadev.com/casestudies.aspx), has been a long-term partner in the company’s projects. VersaDev’s Service Request System (VersaSRS) is used to manage ASC’s help desk, projects and customer assets and provide the level of customer support that is expected by its clients. ASC has developed a reputation of providing excellent customer support. Customers know that when they call the help desk they will be speaking direct to a technician or engineer that has access to the internal knowledge base and customer fault history via VersaSRS to resolve any issues quickly and efficiently. ASC is also planning to implement some of the many additional features available within VersaSRS.

With a staff of 33, employees receive considerable cross-training on equipment and overall technology. A high retention rate allows the company to remain focused on moving forward.

“ASC’s vision for the future is to be a world-class provider of satellite communications systems and services in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region,” says Joseland, “providing high-quality and reliable services to the corporate and government sector with excellent customer support.”

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