Telesat, one of the world’s largest and most innovative satellite operators, and Canada’s ENCQOR 5G  announced a new strategic partnership. Through a shared promise from public and private sector industry leaders to advance 5G technology forward, investment and collaboration in an ultra-high-speed communications infrastructure will not only enable further developments and innovation of 5G and next-generation digital communication technologies, but will also drive economic growth for Canada and bring internet connectivity to the entire nation, including in both rural and urban areas.

In cooperation with the ENCQOR 5G program, Telesat will conduct demonstrations, trials and pilots that will advance 5G connectivity, particularly to industries operating in rural areas. This includes the utilization of the ENCQOR testbed, satellite assets, as well as national and international 5G infrastructures. The partnership will also allow both Telesat and ENCQOR 5G to collaborate with other industries, academia, and organizations across Canada and around the world.

ENCQOR 5G is a transformational Canada-Québec-Ontario program that includes anchor partners and digital technology leaders Ericsson, Ciena Canada Inc., Thales Canada Inc., IBM Canada, and CGI along with provincial coordinators that include Prompt, ADRIQ and the Ontario Centre of Innovation (OCI). Since its inception in 2017, the organization has sought to establish the first Canadian pre-commercial corridor of 5G wireless communication technologies and unlock the massive potential of commercial and industrial industries (i.e., smart cities, e-health, e-education, connected and autonomous vehicles, on-demand entertainment/media, and IoT). In addition to securing over 1,800 high-qualified R&D jobs, ENCQOR 5G brings together a wide network of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), industry, government, researchers, and academia to collaborate on the creation and commercialization of new and disruptive products, processes, and services over a five-year span and beyond.

“As a leader in satellite communications and through our close collaboration with the Canadian, Quebec and Ontario governments, we felt a partnership with ENCQOR 5G was a natural next step in fusing the satellite industry with mobile networks to accelerate the future of 5G technology,” said Stephen Hampton, Manager of Public Policy at Telesat. “We firmly believe our combined efforts will not only benefit the Canadian Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and digital technologies industries, but that the development of these services will also minimize the current connectivity divide for industrial verticals. We think this will have a marked impact on the citizens of Canada and will set the stage to export technologies and 5G networks to the global market – especially once we seamlessly integrate our highly advanced Telesat Lightspeed LEO satellite network into these 5G networks.”

“Enabling disruptive innovations requires strong collaboration, discussion, and transparency between all relevant parties – from industry leaders to government entities, research institutions, academia, telecom service providers, and satellite providers. This is exactly in line with ENCQOR 5G’s mission,” said Pierre Boucher, General Manager of ENCQOR 5G. “Having a world leading company like Telesat on board will prove momentous in expanding the geographical reach of 5G networks, and this agreement will create a strong pathway for productive collaboration between Telesat and our organization.”