Telesat's ViaSat-1 begins commercial service following launch delays

OTTAWA– Telesat has announced that the powerful Ka-band satellite, ViaSat-1, has finally begun commercial service. The announcement though has been overshadowed somewhat by Viasat’s recently filed U.S. federal lawsuit against the builder of its new $400 million high-capacity Internet satellite for breach of confidentially agreements and patent infringement. ViaSat-1 is being billed as the first “media-enabled” satellite, designed to provide more than 100 gigabits per second throughput, and to serve the accelerating growth in bandwidth demand for multimedia Internet access over the next decade. Canadian broadband provider Xplornet is expanding its service with this bird. Telesat owns the Canadian Ka-band...