Telesat concerned satellite capacity won’t be available to Canadian broadcasters

Concerns are being raised that adequate satellite capacity might not be available for Canadian broadcasters and direct-to-home (DTH) satellite TV providers from Ciel Satellite Communications after that company last month won a satellite slot licence. Ciel Satellite was awarded the 129 degrees west orbital position on September 24, sparking outcry from Telesat Canada. Paul Bush, VP of broadcast and corporate development at the BCE Inc. subsidiary says that licensing what is essentially a storefront for a large U.S. operator could put the availability of capacity for Canadian users in jeopardy. "I think there are concerns and questions. What are these guys going to do? This is a DBS (direct broadcast service) frequency, so from that standpoint what’s going to be new in terms of providing Canadians with services?" Bush asks. "We are going to be watching very closely in terms of the conditions of licence because we have conditions of licence to provide service in Canada which we’ve always done. We have conditions of licence in terms of research and development, in terms of public benefit capacity, in terms contribution fees, licence fees, etc. We will make darn sure that these guys are also going to be doing this and they’re also going to be providing service in Canada," he tells Canadian Communications Reports. Kevin Smyth, CEO of Ciel Satellite, rebuts suggestions from Bush that the company won’t provide service to Canadians. "We are following a Canada-first policy and that’s pretty standard," he says. "For example, no capacity can be sold outside of Canada if there’s anyone in Canada that’s interested in the capacity. There’s first dibs for Canadian customers." It’s still too early to talk about other conditions of licence, Smyth says, because the licence is provisional for the moment and the company is working with Industry Canada to settle Canadian ownership and control requirements. "We’re in a stage where we’ve been granted a provisional licence. The next stage is to finalize terms of licence and Industry Canada has to see certain definitive agreements and a certain Canadian ownership and control. While that process is taking place we’re not talking about a lot of the details…," he tells CCR. Smyth also takes offense to comments that the company is a storefront for a U.S. operator. "I can’t speak to the motivations of people that are calling us a storefront for a U.S. entity, but we are Canadian owned and controlled. The Canadian shareholders are Barrett (Corp.), Borealis and Smyth Satellite Holdings, and we’ve got all kinds of obligations and inclinations to work with Canadian industry. We’ll build facilities in Canada, we’re bringing high-tech jobs to the Ottawa region…This isn’t about Telesat, it’s whether the Canadian market is ready for true competition to be introduced," he says. Ciel Satellite is the first domestic satellite operator to be licensed other than Telesat, marking the first time Industry Canada has brought facilities-based competition to the Canadian satellite carrier market. The department has in the past had opportunities to license a true home-grown competitor to Telesat, one involving an application from Richard Stursberg and another from Barrett (CCR, June 21/01). But in both cases Industry Canada opted for the incumbent. Smyth tells CCR that the company plans to begin offering service before August 2005 with an existing in-orbit satellite, which will be moved in the 129 degrees west orbital slot. Ciel Satellite also hopes in the future to acquire two additional orbital slots so that it can round out its service portfolio. "Our plan is to introduce competition properly in Canada, to have a company that can really go against the entrenched incumbent," Smyth says, adding the company is going to have to compete against a rival which offers broadcast, broadband, VSAT, and other services. "We’re only applying for one slot now, but our belief is that in order to fully realize the introduction of a competitive market in this country we’re going to need to be able to provide a full suite of services like the incumbent. But with one slot, it’s difficult to do that…At the end of the day, our aspirations are to really build a fleet…"

Telesat concerned satellite capacity won’t be available to Canadian broadcasters

Broadcast | October 8, 2004

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