For information on satellite TV for regional areas and information on Optus Aurora Smartcards, please see the following:

Official Optus Aurora smartcards

Australian Government regulations specify the areas into which commercial broadcasters may transmit their services. The official Optus Aurora smartcard is used to control the transmission of authorised program content into geographic areas in accordance with these regulations.

Please check that you have one of the following official Optus Aurora smartcards in your set top box:

Use of unofficial smartcards or cardless set top boxes

Aurora viewers who are utilising unofficial smartcards or cardless set top boxes may experience service difficulties when changes are made to the Aurora system.

If your set top box or smartcard type does not comply with the information above please contact your equipment supplier.  Alternatively official Optus Aurora smartcards can be obtained from the following distributors:

Activation of Optus Aurora smartcards

You can complete an online request to have your Optus Aurora Smartcard activated by clicking here.

If you'd prefer to email or fax the smartcard activation request to us, please complete one of the following forms and email to sss@optus.com.au or fax to 1300 555 221.

• Aurora Smartcard Activation Request Form (PDF)
• Aurora Smartcard Activation Request Form (Excel)

If email or fax facilities are unavailable to you or your smartcard dealer, you can activate your smartcard by phoning us on 1300 301 680.

Correct operation of your set top box

To maintain your set top box operation in synchronism with any changes to the Aurora system it is advisable to where possible leave the set top box connected to power and the receiving antenna. The set top box may be left in standby mode if not in use. This enables the set top box to receive any updates to system information as they occur.


Failure to follow this practice may result in loss of service for a period, until the box receives the latest updated information. This problem is most likely to occur if you reactivate your box after a lengthy period of disconnection.

About Optus Aurora

The Optus Aurora system provides transmission of free–to-air services for the national broadcasters, remote area commercial broadcasters, business television providers, radio broadcasters and audio narrowcasters. Reception of the services can be direct to home (DTH) or direct to business (DTB) via a satellite dish, set top box and Optus Aurora smartcard, or via retransmission facilities using terrestrial transmitters for broadcast to TV's.

The Optus Aurora system is designed to operate in an encrypted format, making use of smartcards, within the set top boxes, to decrypt the services applicable to the entitlements on the particular smartcard, held by the set top box. There are a few special instances where a small number of Aurora services are transmitted without encryption, allowing reception without a smartcard, but in general an official Optus Aurora smartcard is required for correct operation.