Optus Aurora was a
free-to-view satellite television platform in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, which aimed at providing
television and
radio services to remote and
black spot areas using the
Optus C1 and
B3 satellites.
The service was available in all areas, using a standard
satellite dish
A satellite dish is a dish-shaped type of parabolic antenna designed to receive or transmit information by radio waves to or from a communication satellite
A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radi ...
and
set top box, however commercial stations carried on the platform were restricted to their respective coverage areas.
Aurora replaced the analogue Homestead and Community Broadcast Satellite Service (HACBSS) in late 1998. HACBSS, carried on the
Optus B1 satellite, was originally launched in the 1980s, and was in many areas the first means of receiving television signals.
The
Viewer Access Satellite Television (VAST) was launched in 2010, as a replacement for Optus Aurora, and now provides a full range of digital channels. Aurora ceased transmission in December 2013, with the last Aurora uplink taking place during February 2014.
Services
Television
The
remote area broadcast services carried on the platform comprised the major
terrestrial networks available in the service's two main coverage areas - remote and regional
Western Australia, and remote central and eastern Australia.
ABC TV and
SBS was available in all areas with the use of a
smartcard,
however commercial stations were only available to viewers in their respective coverage areas -
GWN and
WIN WA to regional
Western Australia, and
Imparja Television and
Southern Cross Central to remote viewers in central and eastern Australia.
The multichannels of the broadcasters were not available on the service.
Indigenous broadcaster
National Indigenous Television (NITV) and WA government service
Westlink Network
Westlink, formerly known as Westlink Network, was an Australian free-to-view digital television channel broadcast to regional and remote areas of Western Australia on the Viewer Access Satellite Television service. Funded by the Government of Wes ...
were also available on Aurora,
in addition to some wagering channels from
Sky Racing
Sky Racing (previously Sky Channel) is an Australian broadcaster primarily telecasting live thoroughbred, harness and greyhound racing. It is owned by Tabcorp and operates a number of television channels and a radio service.
The broadcaster ...
.
Radio
A number of remote commercial and indigenous stations broadcast on Aurora, as did a few in-store radio services.
Most of the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation's radio networks were carried on the platform.
SBS Radio's national network was carried for five time zones. SBS Radio 1, SBS Radio 2 and
ABC DiG was not carried by Aurora, but they were available on FTA
Ku-Band on
Optus D1
This is a list of the satellites operated by Optus, an Australian telecommunications company. The satellite communications facility is located at Belrose on Sydney's Northern Beaches. Optus' satellites are divided into 4 classes A, B, C and D. As ...
.
The Australian government's
Community Broadcasting Foundation broadcast a number of services on the platform including the
BBC World Service
The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...
,
National Indigenous Radio Service
The National Indigenous Radio Service (NIRS) is a satellite program feed available in Australia to Indigenous and non-Indigenous community radio stations. NIRS provides targeted and specialist programming for and by Australia's Aboriginal and T ...
,
Vision Australia Radio
Vision Australia Radio is a network of eight radio stations in Victoria, amongst some other states in Australia. It is owned by Vision Australia. The stations broadcast a range of programs, generally consisting of readings of newspapers and mag ...
and the
Community Radio Network.
Coles Supermarkets
Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd, trading as Coles, is an Australian supermarket, retail and consumer services chain, headquartered in Melbourne as part of the Coles Group.
Founded in 1914 in Collingwood by George Coles, Coles operates ...
,
Officeworks and
Kmart Australia also used the Aurora service to broadcast their in-store radio to different locations in Australia.
See also
*
Viewer Access Satellite Television
*
Regional television in Australia
*
Television in Australia
*
Television broadcasting in Australia
References
External links
*
Optus
Satellite television
1998 establishments in Australia
2014 disestablishments in Australia
{{Australia-tv-stub