Telesat and the
Government of Canada Finalize $600M Agreement to
Bridge Canada’s Digital Divide with Telesat’s
Low Earth Orbit Satellite Constellation
Nov. 09, 2020
Telesat and the Government of Canada
announced the completion of their agreement to
ensure affordable, high-speed broadband
connectivity across all of Canada with Telesat’s
advanced, state-of-the-art Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
satellite constellation. Following a Memorandum
of Understanding signed in July 2019,
this $600M (CAD) agreement enables Internet and
mobility service providers to acquire Telesat
LEO capacity at substantially reduced rates to
bring universal broadband connectivity to rural,
Northern and Indigenous communities across
Canada. Telesat will be eligible to receive
amounts under the agreement over a ten year
period once the Telesat LEO constellation enters
service.
With just 41% of rural
households and only approximately one quarter of
Indigenous communities in Canada having access
to fast, reliable broadband Internet service
today, delivering affordable, high quality
connectivity to all of Canada is essential.
Telesat LEO will provide the reliable, secure,
fibre-like broadband connections needed to
bridge the digital divide in Canada, ensuring
that Canadians living in rural and remote
communities have access to affordable
high-quality broadband that meets the Canadian
Radio-television and Telecommunications
Commission’s (CRTC) goal of at least 50 Mbps
download, 10 Mbps upload speeds with unlimited
data.
In the wake of the global pandemic,
dependable connectivity for Canadians has never
been more important, as all aspects of life –
from healthcare to work to education to
remaining connected to family and friends –
became virtual. Telesat LEO represents a
holistic approach to connecting entire
communities: delivering Gbps of broadband
capacity into the community provides internet
connectivity that supports households, schools,
healthcare facilities, and government services,
and also enhances and expands the reach of LTE
and 5G networks across all of Canada, including
in far northern, remote, rural and Indigenous
communities.
“Telesat LEO will transform
connectivity in Canada, and this agreement will
bring affordable enterprise grade, high-speed
connectivity to underserved Canadians no matter
where they live and work,” said Dan Goldberg,
Telesat’s President and CEO. “We applaud the
Government of Canada and Innovation, Science and
Economic Development Canada for leveraging
revolutionary technologies like Telesat LEO to
drive widespread social and economic benefits.
We look forward to working with Canadian service
providers to provide this capacity to qualified
communities across the country to get all
Canadians connected as soon as possible.”
Under the terms of the agreement, a
dedicated pool of Telesat LEO rural connectivity
capacity will be available to Service Providers
at greatly reduced rates on a first come, first
served basis to provide connectivity for
eligible communities. With Telesat LEO’s high
performance network capacity, service providers
will offer broadband services to their end users
of at least 50/10 Mbps speeds with unlimited
data, and mobility service providers will offer
LTE services.