Northwestel, Telesat, reach agreement for increased satellite service in Nunavut

Telesat and Northwestel have agreed to a multi-year contract for satellite services in Nunavut.

Northwestel will leverage Telesat’s advanced Lightspeed Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite services to deliver connectivity to communities across Northern Canada.

The company will utilize Telesat capacity secured by the Canadian government in a $600 million agreement with Telesat in 2020. Northwestel plans to provide broadband to communities with at least 50Mbps download and 10Mbps upload speeds, along with unlimited monthly usage.

In a separate release, Northwestel said it would use LEO to bring high-speed internet access to 11,650 households across all 25 communities in Nunavut. The project relies on $86 million in funding from the federal government’s Universal Broadband Fund (UBF).

It is also noted that this plan is part of Canada’s Connectivity Strategy, which aims to provide all Canadians with access to the internet at the previously mentioned minimum speeds of 50Mbps download and 10Mbps upload. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) says that 95.8 per cent of Canadians have access to broadband that meets the 50/10 goal.

Northwestel notes that the high-speed broadband drives economic growth and opens the door to education, healthcare, new jobs, and government services that can be delivered remotely.

Telsat Lightspeed is scheduled to begin global service in 2027, but the company currently has only one operational satellite (LEO 1) in orbit. The service will not be sold directly to consumers; it will be sold to customers through telecom providers.

Notably, the Canadian government has provided significant funding to Telesat over the last few years, including a $2.14 billion loan in 2024 and a $1.44 billion investment in 2021.

Source: Northwestel