Austar United

Austar United Communications Limited (AUSTAR) is a leading subscription television provider in Australia, offering primarily digital satellite services to customers in regional and rural areas.

AUSTAR also offers dial-up internet and mobile telephone services.

Established in 1995, AUSTAR's television subscriber base has grown to over 740,000 and is the largest subscription television operator in regional and rural Australia. AUSTAR provides subscription television services in a service area of approximately 2.4m homes, one-third of Australia's total homes, using digital satellite technology.

AUSTAR Service includes over 180 premier channels, 13 HD Channels, a near video-on-demand service, and increased levels of interactivity, such as BOX OFFICE, Sports Active and SKY News Active. Click here to learn more about AUSTAR and its channels.

AUSTAR launched MyStar, its personal digital recorder, in February 2008 and MyStar HD in November 2009. With live pause, live rewind, and recording functionality for two programs while reviewing a third, MyStar also provides viewers with the opportunity to record entire series as they're aired, at the touch of a button. The PDR also contains two digital free-to-air tuners which enable viewers to watch their local, digital free-to-air channels seamlessly without having to purchase a separate digital set-top-box. This feature has been acknowledged by the Federal Government as part of its 'Get Ready' campaign.

AUSTAR service includes an economical, basic Option with 39 channels for just $42.00 a month.

AUSTAR's mobile telephony business, AUSTAR Mobile, was established in 2000. Mobile services are offered to customers via reseller agreements with the OPTUS GSM network. At December 31 2009, AUSTAR had 19,970 mobile customers.

AUSTAR's dial-up internet service, AUSTARnet, was established in 2000. AUSTARnet outsources its network to COMindico's IP Network, and is available nationally. At December 31 2009, AUSTARnet had approximately 12,671 internet customers.
 
AUSTAR's coverage area is approximately 2.4 million homes in regional and rural Australia, as well as Darwin and Hobart.

In October 2004, AUSTAR completed the digitisation of its cable operation in Darwin, bringing AUSTAR Digital to the region.

Since it began, AUSTAR has invested over $1 billion to establish its technology platforms, a state-of-the-art customer service centre and to provide innovative services to regional Australia.

AUSTAR has a 50% stake in XYZnetworks (a 50/50 joint venture with FOXTEL). XYZ is the exclusive owner and/or distributor of twelve key programming channels.

AUSTAR is also a significant investor in the development of Australian content. The company co-funded the second and third series of the Logie award winning Australian drama 'Love My Way' and is funding the second series of the critically acclaimed 'Tangle". AUSTAR has to date committed and invested over $5.5 million to innovative dramas including 'Fat Cow Motel' and 'Fireflies', which broadcast on ABC during 2003 and 2004 respectively.

Over 800 employees serve AUSTAR's customers. Around 700 are based at the company's National Customer Operations Centre on the Gold Coast. The remainder are based in AUSTAR's corporate office in Sydney.