Optus Aurora is a free-to-view satellite television platform in Australia, aimed at providing television and radio services to remote and black spot areas using the Optus C1 and B3 satellites.[1] The service is available to all areas, using a standard satellite dish and set top box, however commercial stations carried on the platform are restricted to their respective coverage areas.
Aurora replaced the analogue Homestead and Community Broadcast Satellite Service 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.
In 2010, Viewer Access Satellite Television was launched.[2] It is a replacement for Aurora and provides a full range of digital channels. Aurora will cease transmission in the second half of 2013.[3]
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The remote area broadcast services carried on the platform comprise 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 are available in all areas with the use of a smartcard,[4] however commercial stations are 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 are not currently available on this service.
Indigenous broadcaster National Indigenous Television (NITV) and WA government service Westlink Network are also available on Aurora,[5] in addition to some wagering channels from Sky Racing.
A number of remote commercial and indigenous stations broadcast on Aurora, as do a few in-store radio services.
Most of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's radio networks are carried on the platform. SBS Radio's national network is carried for five timezones. SBS Radio 1, SBS Radio 2 and ABC DiG are not carried by Aurora however they are available on FTA C-Band.
The Australian government's Community Broadcasting Foundation broadcasts a number of services on the platform including the BBC World Service, National Indigenous Radio Service, Vision Australia Radio and the Community Radio Network.[6]
Coles Supermarkets, Officeworks and Kmart Australia also use the Aurora service to broadcast their in-store radio to different locations in Australia.