Press Releases

OmniAccess becomes first Telesat LEO customer

OTTAWA, CANADA and PALMA DE MALLORCA, SPAIN, March 13, 2019 – Telesat and OmniAccess announced today that they have signed a major, multi-year contract for broadband service on Telesat’s revolutionary, global Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation, which is planned to enter commercial operations in 2022. OmniAccess is a leader in specialized maritime connectivity solutions and is the first broadband provider worldwide to contract for Telesat’s LEO services. They will become an important partner for Telesat LEO and the agreement provides OmniAccess with certain limited exclusivity to serve the superyacht market.

Telesat LEO’s advanced combination of high throughput, low latency and full global coverage (including over the poles) will allow OmniAccess to deliver an unsurpassed user experience to its customers, including vessels on the most difficult to serve ocean routes. Telesat LEO will have the added capability to concentrate capacity into areas of highest demand, such as major seaports, providing substantially more capacity than is available from other systems.

“It is difficult to overestimate the impact the advent of Telesat’s unique LEO service will have on the maritime industry at large,” said Bertrand Hartman, CEO and founder of OmniAccess. “Telesat LEO will allow us to offer a truly global service, combining an extreme level of availability, unprecedented speed levels and an ultra-low latency that rivals, or even exceeds, the fastest of today’s landbased fiber-connections. For the first time in history, onboard systems and services will no longer be restricted by the limits imposed by today’s GEO & MEO-based technologies, finally bridging a digital divide that has held back onboard IT applications for so long. This will be a major game-changer for the maritime industry, profoundly impacting many social and technical aspects of vessel-operations. OmniAccess is genuinely excited to be at the forefront of such an important technological breakthrough with our valued partner Telesat, an innovative and established market-leader we have worked closely with for over 10 years beginning with the first space-segment OmniAccess ever procured. We are looking forward to our next joint ‘first’.”

“OmniAccess is a leader in providing broadband connectivity to superyachts and other high-end maritime segments and Telesat is delighted to be building on our longstanding partnership by signing them as our first Telesat LEO customer” said Dan Goldberg, President and CEO of Telesat. “This commitment by OmniAccess to Telesat LEO is another strong endorsement of the transformational design and performance advantages of our system. Leading satellite broadband providers like OmniAccess, regardless of the market vertical they serve, recognize the importance of providing their customers with the most high performing connectivity services available. Telesat’s state-of-the-art LEO constellation will deliver an unmatched broadband experience – affordable, high throughput, ultra-low latency, and ubiquitous coverage – providing companies like OmniAccess with a sustainable competitive advantage in their markets. We look forward to working with OmniAccess to deliver a disruptive broadband experience for their growing base of high end maritime customers.”

About Telesat LEO

Telesat’s LEO constellation will leverage the company’s global, priority spectrum rights in Ka-band and patent-pending LEO architecture to transform global communications. It will offer a combination of capacity, speed, security, resiliency and affordability with ultra-low latency that is equal to, or better than, the most advanced terrestrial networks. Able to serve the entire globe, Telesat LEO will help satisfy many of the world’s most challenging communications requirements. It will  bridge the digital divide with fiber-like high speed services into rural and remote communities, accelerate 5G expansion and set new levels of performance for commercial and government broadband connectivity on land and in key maritime and aeronautical markets, which are among the fastest growing in today’s satcom industry.

About Telesat www.telesat.com

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 17 GEO satellites, the Canadian payload on ViaSat-1 and one Phase 1 LEO satellite which is the start of Telesat’s planned advanced global LEO satellite constellation that will offer ultra-low latency, extremely high throughput, affordable broadband services. Telesat is also a leading technical consultant providing high value expertise and support to satellite operators, insurers and other industry participants on a global basis. Privately held, Telesat’s principal shareholders are Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board and Loral Space & Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: LORL).

About OmniAccess www.omniaccess.com

Headquartered in the “yachting capital of the Mediterranean,” Palma de Mallorca, OmniAccess is the leading specialized maritime connectivity solutions provider. Established in 2002 and part of the Marlink Group since March 2018, the company offers a portfolio of cutting-edge IT networks, broadband services and IPTV solutions to over 350 vessels, including some of the world’s most impressive yachts, boutique cruise lines and various prestigious research & exploration vessels and organizations.

With an experienced staff of over 100 employees, OmniAccess operates an advanced global VSAT network on over 30 satellite-beams in both C-band and Ku-band, uplinked from 5 Teleport-locations in Spain, Germany, Hawaii, Australia and the USA.  With an unparalleled 24/7 Network Operations Center OmniAccess provides the highest service levels and pushes the boundaries of VSAT connectivity with nextGen BroadBeam® speeds of up to 500 mbps. The company also specializes in advanced integrated maritime IT networks, all-in-one management tools and Plexus TV IPTV solutions.

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”, “planned”, “growing”, “looking forward”, 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” section of Telesat Canada’s Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018 which can be obtained on the SEC website at http://www.sec.gov. 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 ability to successfully deploy an advanced global LEO satellite constellation, volatility in exchange rates 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.

Media Contact:

Gerry Nagler
Telesat
+1 908 470-4907
gnagler@telesat.com