Rural New Zealand is poised to benefit from the launch of satellite broadband service from Orcon Internet.

The company announced on Sept. 7 that its new satellite service will complement its existing fixed-line services, and greatly increases Orcon’s broadband coverage, reaching rural areas of the country.

Orcon will also market its satellite broadband as a back-up service for business customers in the country’s main population centers.

The service’s initial specification delivers download speeds of 1 Megabits per second, and upload speeds of 256 Kilobits per second; both are substantially faster than dial-up connections used by many homes and businesses outside of metropolitan areas.

The new service utilizes the IPStar-1 satellite launched in early 2006 by Thai telecommunications provider Shin Satellite.