Vocus has launched what it claims is Australia’s first Layer 2 integration with the Starlink low earth orbit (LEO) satellite network, offering enterprise and government customers the ability to extend secure private networks to remote locations — without routing data over the public internet.
The new service, called Vocus IP WAN over Starlink Ethernet Access, allows organisations to connect satellite-enabled sites with the same security policies and private IP addressing used at their terrestrial network locations.
The private integration bypasses the public internet entirely, a key requirement for customers in sectors like utilities, defence, and emergency services.
Vocus has established private peering points with the Starlink network in both Sydney and Perth. These interconnects allow customer data transmitted via Starlink satellites to land directly into Vocus’ core network infrastructure, rather than traversing the open internet.
“Our Layer 2 integration with Starlink enables organisations to apply the same security policies and private IP addressing to their remote sites as they do to their core locations,” said Ashley Neale, head of space and wireless operations at Vocus.
“There is no need for the service to be tunnelled over the Internet to be part of a private VPN – the traffic is transmitted on a different network layer to the internet and inaccessible to internet users.”
While Starlink has rapidly expanded access to high-speed satellite broadband using its LEO constellation, the standard service offers dynamic IP addresses and public internet routing — both of which can conflict with enterprise-grade security and application requirements.
The telco has also announced plans to launch a Vocus Enterprise Internet service for Starlink, which will provide static IPs and improved compatibility with enterprise-grade firewalls and cloud applications. This would also enable customers to use a single, centralised internet access point managed through Vocus’ firewall platform.
The service supports Quality of Service (QoS) profiles to prioritise traffic for voice, video and telemetry applications, even under heavy network load. Vocus said early users include government agencies, utilities, and remote site operators such as mining companies and emergency services.
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