OTTAWA – Telesat says it will invest $40 million to expand broadband services in Nunavut, the Northwest Territories and the Yukon.
In a proposal called the Arctic Communications Infrastructure Initiative, the satellite services provider pledged to invest 25% of the estimated $160 million total project cost “in the context of a broader public/private partnership, in a robust, stable and affordable communications network that will meet the needs of the Northern communities over the next decade”.
The project, which would include both satellite bandwidth and ground segment upgrades, would more than double the satellite bandwidth currently available in the regions. Telesat estimates that, once approved, the plan could be implemented in less than one year.
"Telesat has been serving the North for 40 years and is deeply committed to ensuring that Northern communities have access to a broadband communications infrastructure that is on par with that which exists in Southern Canada," said Paul Bush, VP of business development, in a statement. "Our Arctic Communications Infrastructure Initiative will more than double the communications capacity serving the Arctic, provide urgently needed network redundancy in every Northern community, and put in place the long term funding required to ensure this modern and robust network is in place for at least the next ten years.”
Telesat has formally submitted its Arctic Communications Infrastructure Initiative to the co-chairs of the Northern Communications & Information Systems Working Group that led the development of the Arctic Communications Infrastructure Assessment report.
