Loral Space & Communications has entered into an agreement with Canadian rural broadband provider, Barrett Xplore, to deliver Ka-band capacity for broadband services in Canada. Under the agreement, Loral will lease up to 100% of the capacity that it owns…
Loral Space & Communications has entered into an agreement with Canadian rural broadband provider, Barrett Xplore, to deliver Ka-band capacity for broadband services in Canada. Under the agreement, Loral will lease up to 100% of the capacity that it owns on the forthcoming ViaSat-1 satellite to Barrett Xplore for the expected life of the satellite.
The agreement follows hot on heels of a similar capacity leasing agreement that Barratt signed with Hughes Network Systems. That contract, which is worth more than US$100m, sees Barrett commit to acquiring approximately 14gbps of capacity on HNS’ next generation Ka-band satellite Jupiter. Barrett already leases capacity from HNS’ Spaceway 3 satellite to serve certain rural areas.
In late 2009, Barrett applied for all 64 public-private projects under Industry Canada’s C$225m federal program to expand broadband coverage to rural areas. A decision on the successful applicants is due shortly.
Under the agreement with Loral, Barrett has committed to lease at least 50% of the Ka-band capacity on the Canadian Payload of ViaSat-1, with provisions for expansion up to 100% of the capacity prior to launch. Barrett will make fixed payments to Loral that vary annually based on expected usage but which will aggregate, over the 15-year life of the satellite, to at least C$133m and, depending on the amount of capacity Barrett leases, up to C$262m. Barrett may also elect to optionally prepay all or a portion of its commitment.
Loral has also agreed to contract both ViaSat and Telesat Canada to provide the equipment and services needed for the Barrett service. Loral expects to purchase ground infrastructure equipment and related services from ViaSat and to obtain support from Telesat in payload and transponder traffic operations, regulatory and licensing matters and gateway facility management.
Loral’s aggregate investment for the purchase of the Canadian Payload and associated costs for launch services and launch insurance for ViaSat-1 and for gateway infrastructure equipment is estimated to be approximately US$75m. ViaSat-1 is currently under construction at Space Systems/Loral and is scheduled for launch in early 2011.
John Maduri, CEO at Barrett Xplore commented: “We are very pleased to be working with Loral to provide this additional capacity for rural Canadians on ViaSat-1. With this satellite from Loral, we will continue to deliver on our commitment to provide rural Canadians with high-speed Internet access that enables them to fully participate in the global economy.”
