A doubling of data allowances in peak periods on the Sky Muster satellite network has been universally welcomed by rural and regional lobby groups, which have long argued for an end to the data drought.

The maximum monthly data usage per household will increase from 150 gigabytes a month to 300GB a month from October.

Maximum usage during a peak period will increase from 75GB a month to 150GB a month.

Regional Communications Minister Fiona Nash said it meant rural and remote satellite internet users would be able to access extra data regardless of when they were going online.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Listen Duration: 6 minutes 17 seconds 6 m Fiona Nash announces increased data allowances for users of the Sky Muster satellite network Download 2.9 MB

"For a business doing high definition video conferencing with colleagues and clients, that's going to mean 50 hours more a month," she said.

"If it's a student watching uni lectures, there's going to be 25 hours more each month. For a photographer, it would be an extra 3,500 pictures they can send a month.

"And the NBN has indicated that this is the start and they're going to look at even more capacity down the track.

"So, this is going to go a long way to alleviating a lot of that concern around that data."

The NBN has agreed not to charge retailers extra for the additional data allowance, and Ms Nash is hopeful it will be passed on at no or very minimal additional cost to consumers.

End to data drought in sight

Better Internet for Rural, Regional and Remote (BIRRR) Australia joined a chorus of rural and regional groups welcoming the development, indicating it was a "very positive step in the right direction to end the data drought".

BIRRR spokeswoman Kristy Sparrow said it was now up to retail service providers to work with the NBN and their customers to ensure the new higher data plans were affordable and responsive to the needs of regional consumers.

"The doubling of wholesale data allowances will make a significant difference to communications in the bush," she said.

"If we are to encourage growth and innovation in regional areas, we need to ensure connectivity is on par with our urban counterparts."

BIRRR also welcomed an NBN contact centre and outage information service for Sky Muster users.

It will continue lobbying for improved reliability, changes to off-peak hours, business-grade services and an increased fixed wireless footprint to help alleviate pressure on the Sky Muster satellite network.

AgForce telecommunications committee chairwoman Georgie Somerset said the need for fairer, more reliable and affordable phone and internet services was the number one issue for people living and working in the bush.

"While Sky Muster is now delivering excellent speed and increased reliability, the data allowances have been a serious limitation, with many of our members restricted from even considering cloud-based business services," she said.



What does it mean for my data plan?

Ms Nash stressed it would be up to retailers to decide adjustments to individual plans under the Sky Muster rules, but she expected it would deliver about 50 per cent more peak data and twice as much off-peak data to users.

High-end plans would be likely to offer about 100 gigabytes a month of peak data and 150 gigabytes off-peak.

Average users on 30-40 gigabyte a month plans would receive an extra 15-20 gigabytes of data a month.

Ms Nash said the data increases followed a huge improvement in Sky Muster stability, with outages down 90 per cent in April on what they were in September 2016.

She said she would continue to listen to the telecommunications concerns of rural and regional residents, and urged them not to overreact to a recent report by the Productivity Commissioner recommending an end of guaranteed access to fixed landline phones.

"It's a report to government. We're now considering that and I certainly have the best interests of people out in the regions uppermost in everything I do," she said.