LEO providers aiming to meet gov’t connectivity goals within 3 years

Telesat Holdings Inc. and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) both said Tuesday they plan to provide broadband connectivity to remote and rural areas of Canada seven years ahead of the government’s 2030 target date, though neither had a definitive answer about the affordability of the services. Speaking before a meeting of the House of Commons industry committee, Telesat president and CEO Dan Goldberg said he expects Telesat to have its full constellation of around 300 low earth orbit (LEO) satellites launched within two years, with beta testing beginning in 2022. Once operational in 2023, Telesat should be able to provide satellite broadband to any geographic point in Canada. At the same meeting, SpaceX vice-president of satellite government affairs Patricia Cooper told the committee that her company is “putting Canadian approvals to good use,” with a public beta for its Starlink satellite broadband service already being rolled out as of last week, even though SpaceX was only granted spectrum access a matter of weeks ago. “Within a week of receiving our licenses SpaceX began shipping Starlink kits into Canada for our early customers including indigenous communities,” she said. Cooper also told the committee that even in its beta phase, Starlink’s broadband already meets the Canadian government’s expectations of 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload speeds, and that equivalent tests in the U.S. are showing speeds of up to 100 Mbps. Despite Starlink’s early rollout, the first service will only be available up to approximately the 55th parallel north (roughly as far north as Prince Rupert, B.C., or Flin Flon, MB). But according to Cooper, coverage for all of Canada (including the North) is expected before the end of 2022. Under plans for the recently-unveiled Universal Broadband Fund, the government is aiming for 98 per cent of Canadians to have broadband access by 2026, and the entire population by 2030. The anticipated speed of the satellite companies’ broadband rollout led Bloc Québécois MP Martin Champoux to question the ambition of the Liberals’ UBF. “Do you think that the targets that are now out from the government are not as tight as they could be, and that we could do even better?” he asked SpaceX’s Cooper. She did not comment directly on the government’s deadlines, stating only that “we’re moving as fast as we can.” Despite the fast rollout, neither company made specific promises about the affordability of the broadband services they’ll provide. Cooper told the committee that during SpaceX’s beta period, broadband service would cost $129 per month with no contracts or data caps, plus a one-time $649 fee for an array of equipment, including a receiver dish. While some committee members expressed concern over the affordability of that service, Cooper added that economies of scale would drive the price down in future. “It certainly still has early adopter prices and service,” she said. “We think we’ve got a really clear path to driving that equipment price down.” Goldberg declined to name a possible price tag for Telesat’s services, noting that Telesat’s service would be offered to ISPs and other organizations, who in turn would sell internet services to consumers. That means pricing would be in the hands of companies like BCE Inc., but Goldberg said that the rates Telesat was charging those companies would be fair. During the same committee meeting, Goldberg also took the opportunity to urge MPs to support Telesat as a Canadian company. “It is a space race, it is an extremely strategic area, and it’s not just Russia and China and India, it’s the United States, it’s the Europeans, it’s the UK backing OneWeb,” he said. “Canada is going to need to open its eyes wide, look at what’s going on in the world and participate in this.” Of particular concern to Goldberg was the Federal Communications Commission’s clearing of mid-band spectrum in America, where $14.7 billion USD ($18 billion CAD) was offered as compensation to various satellite operators, including Telesat’s competitors. That same midband spectrum is set to be cleared in coming years in Canada, so that wireless 5G networks can access it. In light of that, Goldberg urged the committee and Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada to approve Telesat’s proposal that it be allowed to auction off much of its midband spectrum space to wireless operators as soon as mid-2021. “We need it to finance our LEO, and at a minimum we need it so we can maintain a level playing field with our great big international competitors that have cleared the exact same spectrum south of the border,” he said. Although Telesat was promised $600 million in Canadian government investment as part of the UBF, Goldberg noted that this would not be paid out until Telesat’s LEO constellation is active and has the appropriate capacity — meanwhile, the spectrum sale would provide Telesat with financing much sooner. “If we don’t get it, two bad things are going to happen. One, all of these existing services that we’re providing are going to be at risk. I can’t imagine the government allowing that to happen. And two, Telesat will be at a severe competitive disadvantage to these already-bigger competitors who have received $18 billion for clearing the same spectrum.” — Reporting by Tim Forster at tforster@thewirereport.ca and and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

LEO providers aiming to meet gov’t connectivity goals within 3 years

News | November 18, 2020

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