Kordia partners with Netlinkz to offer Starlink satellite network resilience

New Zealand’s Kordia has partnered with Australian Starlink global distributor Netlinkz to bring business grade satellite communications to customers. 

The service would complement Kordia's existing managed WAN services to provide better rural coverage to improve communication options for remote sites, Kordia said.

"We're excited to be able to offer Netlinkz Starlink Business to our customers, especially those with operations in the more remote parts of New Zealand, and those that require mobile data options," said Murray Goodman, head of product at Kordia.

"Over the past year, extreme weather conditions have also demonstrated the value of additional access options to support business continuity, especially for mission critical communications."

Starlink joins Kordia’s existing network options covering Ultrafast Broadband, digital microwave radio and cellular data for business grade access, failover and diversity.

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Kordia also has an agency agreement with Netlinkz to enable customers to acquire Starlink terminals, installation services, first level support, reporting and billing. 

Customers will also be able to access Netlinkz Starlink services and support through the Kordia network. The agreement also provides priority support and in-country spares for rapid restoration.

“We've been impressed with Kordia's dedication to providing resilient communications to their customers, and it's great to be able to offer the benefits of Netlinkz Starlink to Kordia's network,” said James Tsiolis, CEO at ASX-listed Netlinkz.

Kordia said it was able to provide both fixed, mobile and maritime plans as part of the agreement, as well as professional installation options.

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Kordia was already discussing the use case for customers with maritime operations, for example adding connections for ferries or ships.

Goodman said better connectivity options for rural customers will open the door to more innovation, particularly in agriculture and primary industries.

"Kordia's Netlinkz Starlink service can provide primary access to areas where there is no UFB, and mobile coverage is poor for high-speed diversity and failover options,” he said. “This opens up new opportunities for industries that were previously held back by bandwidth limitations.

"With weather conditions and natural disasters providing risk around communications, many of our customers with critical operations are eager to look at failover options that don't rely on UFB or cellular."

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In October, Netlinkz reported revenue of A$20.7 million for the year to 30 June, 2023, only A$1 million came from Starlink as the deal was only signed late in the year. 

Since then the company has reported contracts with Spark and other service providers around the Pacific.