WHITEHORSE and LONDON, UK — Northern Canadian telecom provider Northwestel, a subsidiary of Bell Canada, and UK-based low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications company OneWeb announced today the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaboratively deliver new connectivity services to remote mines, enterprise businesses and governments across Canada’s north.
The companies’ announcement follows the completion of OneWeb’s “Five to 50” program, which has deployed the LEO satellites necessary to bring OneWeb’s services to Canada, the UK and northern Europe later this year, says a press release.
The new connectivity solutions to be provided by Northwestel and OneWeb will use the latter’s LEO satellite backbone, says the release.
“OneWeb continues to make great progress as we prepare to launch service later this year north of the 50th Parallel to reach vital but remote areas of the globe,” said OneWeb’s CEO, Neil Masterson, in the press release.
“This partnership with Northwestel is more evidence that our network is an important element in bridging the last digital divides by providing high-quality connectivity services to those that need it most,” he added.
Northwestel president Curtis Shaw was quoted as saying: “Northwestel is committed to bringing the very best technology to Northerners and this agreement with OneWeb allows us to provide improved broadband services to remote enterprises and governments using state-of-the-art low Earth orbit satellite technology. We look forward to providing innovative solutions for northern businesses to go along with our significant residential service improvements over the coming years.”
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