Satellite TV Satellite Services in Australia TV/Radio/Data services delivered by satellite are continually expanding in numbers and coverage. But Australia lags behind Europe, the United States and Asia to take full advantage of satellite delivered broadcasting services. Pay-TV services have been delivering their services via satellite (mostly Optus B3) in digital format for several years.

The Remote Area Broadcasting Service (RABS) on the "Aurora" platform of Optus B3 was launched in late 1998 to replace the HACBSS system on Optus B1. This change also saw the transition from analogue to digital format, which enabled the broadcast of many more channels to the entire Australian continent, instead of specific regions.

The Pay-TV and Aurora services both use the Ku frequency band, requiring solid dishes between 60cm and 1.8m in diameter. (Fringe area Pay-TV reception may need even larger dishes).

Another type of satellite television service is Free-to-Air (FTA) international programming. Much of this international programming uses the C frequency band. Reception of these signals usually only requires mesh dishes, but they can range from 1.8m (6') to 3.7m (12') in diameter.

The most popular size of C band mesh dish for international programming is 2.4 (8'). International programming is available in many languages, including:

The following tables show satellite programming visible from Brisbane, Australia. More programming is accessible and is not listed, but they occur on inclined orbit satellites and/or are occasional feeds only. Nationwide Antenna Systems can supply you with this information if you so require. Satellites

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