Telesat’s Low Earth Orbit network, Telesat Lightspeed, will be MEF certified to meet the digital transformation needs of service providers and telecom operators
OTTAWA, CANADA, April 8, 2021 – Telesat, one of the world’s most innovative satellite operators, today announced that it has joined MEF, a global federation of network, cloud, and technology providers working together to empower enterprise digital transformation. Telesat is building the advanced features that enterprise customers, telecom operators and service providers require, and its involvement with MEF will enable members to seamlessly integrate with the Telesat Lightspeed network to enhance their network coverage, performance and profitability.
“A membership in MEF offers an opportunity to engage in business-driven collaboration with leading global organizations. Together, we enable dynamic, trusted, and certified services that empower enterprises to embrace their own digital transformation and grow their business. We welcome Telesat as the newest addition to our growing, vibrant community of MEF members who are working to progress our MEF 3.0 Global Services Framework,” said Nan Chen, President, MEF.
Through MEF, Telesat Lightspeed services will be certified, ensuring that they conform to the rigorous certification standards established by MEF. With MEF’s 3.0 Underlay Connectivity Service standards, companies can easily understand the capabilities provided by Telesat Lightspeed and how these software-defined digital services can be procured and integrated into their networks. By designing Telesat Lightspeed to MEF standards, customers can take advantage of ubiquitous, high capacity and low latency connectivity, without the complexities inherent in integrating traditional satellite-based solutions. Telesat will participate in MEF work committees and incorporate the latest standards into the Telesat Lightspeed implementation.
“We are eager to engage with the MEF community to address the industry’s business challenges and digital transformation,” said Erwin Hudson, Telesat’s Vice President, LEO. “Telesat Lightspeed was developed with the enterprise needs of MEF members in mind, and through our involvement and partnership we can be sure that we continue to enhance our network while supporting the telecom industry.”
About Telesat
Backed by a legacy of engineering excellence, reliability and industry-leading customer service, Telesat is one of the largest and most successful global satellite operators. Telesat works collaboratively with its customers to deliver critical connectivity solutions that tackle the world’s most complex communications challenges, providing powerful advantages that improve their operations and drive profitable growth.
Continuously innovating to meet the connectivity demands of the future, Telesat Lightspeed, the company’s Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite network, will be the first and only LEO network optimized to meet the rigorous requirements of telecom, government, maritime and aeronautical customers. Operating under its global priority Ka-band spectrum rights, Telesat Lightspeed will redefine global satellite connectivity with ubiquitous, affordable, high-capacity links with fibre-like speeds.
Privately held and headquartered in Ottawa, Canada with offices and facilities around the world, Telesat’s principal shareholders are Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board and Loral Space & Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: LORL). For more information, visit www.telesat.com.
About MEF
An industry association of 200 member companies, MEF is driving development of a global federation of network, cloud, and technology providers supporting dynamic, assured, and certified network services that power enterprise digital transformation. MEF 3.0 services are designed to provide an on-demand, cloud-centric experience with user- and application-directed control over network resources and service capabilities. MEF 3.0 services are delivered over automated, virtualized, and interconnected networks powered by LSO, SDN, and NFV. MEF produces service standards, LSO frameworks, LSO APIs, MEF 3.0 Proof of Concept Showcases, and certification programs for services, technologies, and professionals. MEF 3.0 work will enable automated delivery of standardized Carrier Ethernet, Optical Transport, IP, SD-WAN, SASE, and other Layer 4-7 services across multiple provider networks. For more information: https://www.MEF.net and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter @MEF_Forum.
Forward-Looking Statements Safe Harbor
This news release contains statements that are not based on historical fact and are ”forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this news release, the words “will”, “can”, or other variations of these words or other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information. Actual results may differ materially from the expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements as a result of known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Detailed information about some of the known risks and uncertainties is included in the “Risk Factors” section of Telesat Canada’s Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 which can be obtained on the SEC website.
Known risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to: risks associated with operating satellites and providing satellite services, including satellite construction or launch delays, launch failures, in-orbit failures or impaired satellite performance, the ability to successfully deploy an advanced global LEO satellite constellation, the availability of government and/or other funding for the LEO satellite constellation, the receipt of proceeds in relation to the re-allocation of C-band spectrum, volatility in exchange rates, risks and expense associated with becoming a publicly listed company the ability to expand our existing satellite utilization and risks associated with domestic and foreign government regulation. The foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive. The information contained in this news release reflects Telesat’s beliefs, assumptions, intentions, plans and expectations as of the date of this news release. Except as required by law, Telesat disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise the information herein.
