James Moore, Canadian industry minister. Photo: Industry Canada

[Via Satellite 11-19-13] Hunter Communications has been approved by Industry Canada to compete in the Canadian market. The company is selling satellite space segment on its hosted payload, first using the Satmex 5 satellite, followed by additional capacity on Satmex 7 in approximately two years.

The Satmex 5 satellite has been positioned to serve all of North America, but with an emphasis on northern Canada, where capacity has been scarce and expensive. Satmex 7 will have an even more tailored coverage of northern Canada. With an orbital position of 114.9 west, the footprints of the two satellites are ideal to cover the entire Canadian land mass.

“As satellite markets and service providers have become increasingly international, it is important that Canadian national licensees have a level playing field with all other operators,” said Brent Perrott, president, Hunter.

With increased competitive telecommunications service in northern Canada and a competitive satellite environment across Canada, Perrott said the additional capacity will play an important role in providing competitive alternatives, significantly reduced ground station costs, diversity and redundancy.