Brisbane's Netvault brings Starlink internet to flood-ravaged NSW Northern Rivers

Brisbane-based telco, internet and cloud services provider Netvault has deployed Starlink satellite terminals to the flood-ravaged Northern Rivers region of New South Wales.

Netvault said they were prompted by a tweet from Australian surfer Mick Fanning, who called on Starlink CEO and billionaire Elon Musk to assist the affected areas across NSW, with senior systems consultant Radek Tkaczyk donating 10 Starlink Rapid Deployment Kits.

The Starlink kits, which Netvault said are worth around $10,000 in technology, were deployed to places like Upper Wilsons Creek and Upper Main Arm, which are still isolated due to recurring landslides.

@elonmusk We need help with the flood disaster in NSW, Australia. The people have no means of communication and really need your help! Can you help us with Starlink? How can we make it happen?

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— Mick Fanning (@Mick_Fanning) March 6, 2022

We’ve donated 10 Starlink kits to assist with flood recovery efforts, arriving in Byron Bay this morning. These kits will have the new Starlink roaming feature enabled. This means the service is portable, & the Starlink units can be moved to other flood ravaged locations easily. pic.twitter.com/3wps5e02JM

— NetVault (@NetVaultAus) March 7, 2022

Some kits also went to the Westpac Lifesaver Rescue Helicopter Service and Medical Rescue Group, which has a vital health truck based in Murwillumbah.

“These Starlink terminals provide internet connections that are 10 times faster than what you can get with NBN satellite service, so it will be of huge benefit to those people in crisis centres,” Tkaczyk said.

“The flooding crisis in Queensland and New South Wales has been devastating and I really wanted to help anyway I can. Many areas still have no internet access and these Starlink terminals are providing a communication outlet to those that need it most.”

We're trying to get Starlink to communities that have been cut off by wild weather, floods & landslides in Australia. Byron Bay is one. We'd really appreciate more cell capacity for disaster zones. @elonmusk #Starlink #australiafloods #floods2022 #NSWFloods #internet #ElonMusk pic.twitter.com/SWhsnPUU3M

— NetVault (@NetVaultAus) March 5, 2022

Netvault’s satellite technology communicates with Starlink satellites and Australian 4G LTE networks to provide internet connectivity to customers in remote areas, offering speeds of between 50 to 150 Mbps and latency of between 20 – 40 milliseconds.

The kits are also portable and have the new Starlink roaming feature enabled, allowing them to be moved to other affected locations more easily.

Headquartered in Brisbane and with offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, Netvault provides telecommunications services to IT service providers and their end-users, including internet, secure cloud services and telephony.