Telesat and Mage Networks Sign MOU for Lightspeed Services

Mage Networks is the latest organization to sign an Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Telesat for its Lightspeed Constellation services.

Calgary based Mage Networks delivers high-speed internet to rural and underserved communities. The MOU is part of the “Telesat Lightspeed Capacity Pool that was established through a partnership between Telesat and the Government of Canada.”

The partnership between Telesat and the Government of Canada announced in November, 2019 included $600 million to secure capacity on the Lightspeed constellation.

In today’s press release Telesat stated that they “and Mage Networks will collaborate on integrating commercial and technical aspects of Telesat Lightspeed high-throughput and low latency capacity into its services portfolio. Together they will develop demand and traffic projections and network performance criteria by market segment and define optimal business and operating models, with the objective of contracting Telesat Lightspeed services.”

Dr. Sayed-Amr (Sisso) El-Hamamsy, Co-founder, President and CEO, Mage Networks said that “Mage Networks understands the hardships facing people living in remote communities that don’t have the same technological access that others do. By integrating Mage Network’s hybrid solutions with Telesat Lightspeed LEO capacity we will be able to deliver reliable, redundant, affordable service to more people, in less time and at reduced cost.”

Telesat added in the press release that “The dedicated pool of Telesat Lightspeed rural connectivity capacity is available to Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and Indigenous ISPs at greatly reduced rates on a first come, first served basis to provide connectivity for eligible communities. With the Telesat Lightspeed high performance network capacity, service providers will offer affordable broadband service plans to their end users of at least 50/10 Mbps speeds with unlimited data.”