Telesat has begun demonstrating lightning fast broadband at the Iqaluit Centennial Library that local residents as well as attendees at this week's Nunavut Trade Show and Conference can experience for themselves. Now for the first time, broadband speeds common to Southern Canada that support on-line banking, shopping, government programs, continuing education, and even HD video streaming are being made available to the Nunavummiut.

The demonstration is part of a two month broadband project that Telesat has undertaken in partnership with contributors that include: leading satellite hardware makers, Comtech EF Data and Newtec providing their latest transmission technologies; Aruba Networks, supplying the wireless access point; Northwestel providing local fibre connectivity from Telesat’s ground station to the Iqaluit library; and the Nunavut Community Access Program (NCAP) providing use of community infrastructure. The demonstration illustrates how Telesat’s existing satellites can provide needed bandwidth to meet the demand from all Northern residents to gain access to today’s broadband services.

Telesat’s goal is to launch a public/private partnership with both territorial and federal governments to bring reliable broadband to every community in the North. Earlier this year Telesat announced its “Arctic Communications Infrastructure Initiative” in which the company proposed to make a $40 million investment to expand broadband services in the North. Satellite capacity is available now and implementation can quickly be completed to stimulate economic growth and improve quality of life for thousands of Canadians in the country’s most remote regions.

“Telesat’s commitment to providing advanced communications solutions to Canada and its Northern communities has spanned forty years,” said Paul Bush, Telesat’s Vice President Business Development North America. “The live demonstration in Nunavut is compelling evidence that today’s satellite broadband can effectively eliminate the digital divide between Northern and Southern Canada. Telesat, as part of its public/private partnership proposal, is prepared to make its high bandwidth capacity available on a long term basis and looks forward to working with territorial and federal governments to bring the benefits of full broadband to Northern residents, businesses and government offices.”