Hughes and Telesat Sign Agreement for High-Throughput Capacity on Telesat’s New Telstar 19 VANTAGE Satellite Covering South America
Agreement Will Expand Coverage for High-Speed Satellite Internet Services
Germantown, Md., November 11, 2015—Hughes Network Systems, LLC (Hughes), the global leader in broadband satellite solutions and services, and Telesat, a leading global satellite operator, today announced a 15-year agreement for Ka-band capacity on Telesat’s new Telstar 19 VANTAGE (T19V) satellite, planned for launch in early 2018.
The agreement calls for Telesat to deliver Ka-band capacity of 31 Gbps on T19V covering many countries in South America, which Hughes will utilize to expand its broadband satellite services for consumers. High-throughput JUPITER™ technology from Hughes will be deployed for the ground system and customer premises equipment.
“Hughes is excited to conclude this agreement with Telesat, which will help us meet the growing demand for broadband services across areas of South America that are unserved or underserved by terrestrial networks,” said Pradman Kaul, president of Hughes. “It will further augment coverage of our planned Eutelsat 65W satellite to be launched in 2016, which together will provide us with significant HTS capacity over all the Americas for high-speed Internet access—building on our successful HughesNet® consumer service in North America, now with over 1 million subscribers.”
“Telesat is delighted to have Hughes as an anchor customer on our new Telstar 19 VANTAGE satellite,” said Dan Goldberg, Telesat’s president and CEO. “Telstar 19 VANTAGE, which will be co-located with our Telstar 14R satellite at 63 degrees West, is the second of a new generation of Telesat satellites designed with high-throughput capabilities optimized to serve the types of bandwidth intensive applications at which Hughes excels. Telesat is already a leader in the Latin America market with five satellites serving the region. In addition to its high-throughput Ka-band capacity for Hughes, Telstar 19 VANTAGE will bring significant additional state-of-the-art Ku-band capacity to Latin America, providing users in the region with greater choice and the competitive advantages they need to succeed in the markets they serve.”
About Telesat
Telesat is a leading global satellite operator, providing reliable and secure satellite-delivered communications solutions worldwide to broadcast, telecom, corporate and government customers. Headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, with offices and facilities around the world, the company’s state-of-the-art fleet consists of 14 satellites and the Canadian payload on ViaSat-1 with another satellite being readied for launch. Telesat also manages the operations of additional satellites for third parties. Privately held, Telesat’s principal shareholders are Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board and Loral Space & Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: LORL).