Telesat and ENCQOR 5G are to work on 5G technology and demonstrations. Under the agreement, Telesat plans to conduct demonstrations, trials and pilots of 5G connectivity, using the ENCQOR testbed, satellite assets, and national and international 5G infrastructures.
ENCQOR 5G is a transformational Canada-Québec-Ontario program that includes anchor partners and digital technology leaders Ericsson, Ciena Canada, Thales Canada, 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.
Telesat and ENCQOR 5G said this agreement will further the development of 5G and digital communication technologies and drive economic growth in Canada, expanding internet connectivity to rural and urban areas. Telesat plans to integrate its Lightspeed Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) constellation into 5G networks in the future.
“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.”
