Telesat Welcomes Announcement of Funding to Improve Broadband in Canada's North

September 18, 2017

Telesat fully supports last week’s announcement by the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, of $50 million in funding from Canada’s Connect to Innovate program to improve high-speed broadband coverage for the communities of Nunavut.

“Telesat applauds the determined steps the Government of Canada is taking to bring high-speed broadband connectivity to rural and remote communities across Canada,” said Dan Goldberg, President and CEO of Telesat. “Minister Bains' important announcement will transform the way people in the Far North participate in the digital economy and Telesat is pleased that the substantial investment we have made in the state-of-the-art Telstar 19 VANTAGE satellite will be a core component in the delivery of advanced Internet services to these communities. Telstar 19 VANTAGE is optimized to efficiently support a range of broadband applications that will substantially improve the lives of Canadians, including e-commerce, distance education and connecting with family and friends.” 

Since Telesat’s founding nearly 50 years ago, Telesat employees across Canada have focused on providing reliable and secure satellite communications to benefit all Canadians. Telstar 19 VANTAGE is the company’s latest innovation. Following its scheduled launch in the second quarter of 2018 and successful deployment, this new, high throughput satellite (HTS) will bring twenty times more capacity to the Nunavut region, one of the most difficult to serve in the world.

With the announcement by Minister Bains, Canada is making important investments to ensure all Canadians have access to high-speed internet that will spur innovation, create jobs and improve lives. Telesat is committed more than ever to invest in and deploy the most advanced, next generation satellite services to serve the communications needs of all Canadians.