Mississauga company to launch fleet of 78 communications satellites

A Mississauga-based company is planning to launch a fleet of 78 low-orbit satellites that will provide backhaul telecommunications services, with speeds of up to 12 Gbps, for data-crunched carriers worldwide. “With the Internet being under such heavy demand and high usage, there's a bandwidth shortage just about everywhere,” David R. Cooper, president and CEO of Microsat Systems Canada Inc. (MSCI), said in an interview. “The discussions we've had with service providers, and there has been a number of them already, are very optimistic about this.” MSCI announced last week its plans to launch a fleet of 78 polar communications microsatellites, called COMMStellation, to provide backhaul services and connect remote areas to the Internet. Cooper said the 78 satellites will rotate around six orbital planes that converge over the poles, providing 100 per cent global coverage. Each of the six orbital planes will have an additional redundant satellite in rotation to ensure reliable service. The satellites, which are expected to have a 10-year lifespan, will be deployed and fully capable by 2015, the company says. Telecommunications carriers will be able to use the satellite capacity to provide backhaul services to customers. Backhaul provides a wireless link between a core network and the towers or base stations at the edge of the network. Under MSCI's backhaul model, mobile phone base stations and network hubs will link to the satellites, which will then link to 20 ground stations around the globe, providing Internet access to users. The satellites will use spectrum in the Ka-band, so that MSCI must first receive approval from Industry Canada to launch and operate the fleet. Cooper said the company is in the process of obtaining approval from the department, and that it will seek approval from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to operate the satellites on a worldwide basis. The company said it expects the response from carriers to be high as global networks grow increasingly congested. "The influx of millions of data-hungry mobile devices, such as smart phones and tablets, is causing unprecedented strain on mobile networks, which have already reached, or are nearing, capacity," Cooper said in a release announcing the project. "High-speed backhaul infrastructure is the single most important enabler to the growth of Internet business models and wealth generation ... If a country does not have it—it will fall behind." Industry Canada is currently holding a consultation on the use and accessibility of backhaul spectrum. Marc Choma, director of communications at the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA), said backhaul is an important issue for providers as demand for data services grows. “Backhaul has always been an essential aspect of providing wireless communications,” Choma said by email. “The proliferation of users accessing mobile Internet makes backhaul an even more critical technology.” MSCI has yet to announce how the satellite fleet will be funded. It is now searching for development partners, investors and service providers. Last July, the Conservative government’s budget implementation bill received royal assent. The bill removed the foreign ownership and investment restrictions for satellite companies. Cooper said by phone that the Canadian response to MSCI's project has so far been positive, adding that the company is in the process of briefing various Canadian government agencies on its activities. “We want to put this constellation up. We don't need government funding to do it. We're going to do it with private funds, but if we do put it up, we'd like to meet a number of mandates,” he said. “We have sent letters to the CRTC to tell them what we're thinking to do, and I expect soon there will be more in-depth discussion with them.” In October and November, the CRTC held a consultation on access to basic telecom services, where it asked whether it should mandate telcos to provide broadband services to all Canadians. Cooper said MSCI's satellite constellation would provide a financially viable alternative to building out a fibre network, and would help provide telecommunications services to remote communities. “The CRTC is pushing the telcos to come up with a solution. The telcos, of course, are resisting that because the business case makes no sense to them,” Cooper said. During the CRTC’s access to basic services hearing, MTS Allstream told the commission that completing national broadband coverage would mean connecting about 700,000 Canadian households in remote area, and would cost the country about $7 billion. Cooper said MSCI's satellites would cost less than $1 billion to deploy and operate and would offer higher speeds than what geosynchronous satellites can offer. MSCI's satellites, which will offer lower latency rates because they are closer to the Earth than medium-orbit satellites, are expected to offer a bandwidth speed of up to 12 Gbps. The satellites are positioned in polar orbital positions and will offer better capacity in high latitudes than they will around the equator. kfournier@thewirereport.ca

Mississauga company to launch fleet of 78 communications satellites

News | January 24, 2011

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