Telesat and the Government of Canada Finalize $600M Agreement to Bridge Canada’s Digital Divide with Telesat’s Low Earth ...
November 09 2020 - 11:06AM
Telesat and the Government of Canada announced today 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.
Additional information for service providers can
be accessed at https://www.telesat.com/universal-connectivity/.
About Telesat
Backed by a legacy of engineering excellence,
reliability and industry-leading customer service, Telesat has
grown to be one of the largest and most successful global satellite
operators. Telesat works collaboratively with its customers to
deliver critical connectivity solutions that tackle the world’s
most complex communications challenges, providing powerful
advantages that improve their operations and drive growth. Telesat
LEO, our Low Earth Orbit network, will revolutionize global
broadband connectivity by delivering a combination of high
capacity, security, resiliency and affordability with ultra-low
latency and fiber-like speeds.
Privately held and headquartered in Ottawa,
Canada with offices and facilities around the world, Telesat’s
principal shareholders are Canada’s Public Sector Pension
Investment Board and Loral Space & Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:
LORL). For more information, visit www.telesat.com.
Media contacts:
KWT Global for Telesattelesat@kwtglobal.com
Forward-Looking Statements Safe
Harbor
This news release contains statements that are
not based on historical fact and are ''forward-looking statements''
within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995. When used in this news release, the words “will”, “can”,
or other variations of these words or other similar expressions are
intended to identify forward-looking statements and information.
Actual results may differ materially from the expectations
expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements as a result
of known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Detailed information
about some of the known risks and uncertainties is included in the
"Risk Factors" sections of Telesat Canada's Annual Report on Form
20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 and in Telesat
Canada’s Quarterly Report on Form 6-K for the quarters ending March
31, 2020, June 30, 2020 and September 30, 2020, all of which can be
obtained from the SEC website.
Known risks and uncertainties include but are
not limited to: risks associated with operating satellites and
providing satellite services, including satellite construction or
launch delays, launch failures, in-orbit failures or impaired
satellite performance, the impact of COVID-19 on
Telesat’s business and the economic environment, the ability to
successfully deploy an advanced global LEO satellite constellation,
the availability of government and/or other funding for the LEO
satellite constellation, the receipt of proceeds in relation to the
re-allocation of C-band spectrum, volatility in exchange rates, the
ability to expand our existing satellite utilization and risks
associated with domestic and foreign government regulation. The
foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive. The
information contained in this news release reflects Telesat's
beliefs, assumptions, intentions, plans and expectations as of the
date of this news release. Except as required by law, Telesat
disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise the
information herein.
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