Ciel Satellite Group, a new Canadian owned and controlled communications satellite venture, has received provisional authority from Industry Canada to operate a broadcast satellite (BSS) at 129 degrees West orbital location.
Founded earlier this year by a strong combination of partners, Barrett Corporation, Smyth Satellite Holdings, Borealis Infrastructure and SES Americom, Ciel expects to begin satellite operations before August 2005.
Ciel is led by Canadian satellite industry veteran Kevin Smyth and an executive management team that brings more than 60 years of industry leading experience to their respective roles. With this team in place, Ciel plans to develop an independent Canadian fleet of satellites.
As it builds its business, Ciel intends to contribute significantly to Canadian telecommunications infrastructure.
Ciel will offer wholesale satellite capacity to broadcasters, direct-to-home programmers, VSAT and enterprise networks, educational and distance learning networks, as well as cultural and community organizations seeking broadband connections.
Ciel will bring the advantages of competition to the Canadian market while creating industrial benefits, and expanding Canada’s role in the Global satellite industry.
“This announcement is a positive for Canadian industry players who will soon benefit from the strengthened competitive environment that Industry Canada has developed,” said Kevin Smyth, CEO of Ciel.
“We are grateful to Industry Canada for the authority to operate a BSS satellite from 129 degrees West. We believe the time is right to license a second Canadian satellite operator and we will work hard to merit the award of future licences.”
“Industry Canada’s process was efficient and responsive. We are committed to covering all regions of Canada, making bandwidth broadly available to potential users, and working with Canadian industry and Industry Canada,” said Gerry Wall, Ciel’s Vice President of Government Affairs.
With an experienced and expert team of partners, Ciel is poised to become a Canadian high technology force with the resources to succeed:
Ciel is led by satellite experts from Barrett Corporation and Smyth Satellite Holdings, two Canadian organizations with extensive experience in the domestic and international satellite industry.
Ciel has aligned itself with Europe-based SES Global, one of the world’s largest and financially stable satellite companies with over 40 spacecraft in operation.
Participation in Ciel is supported by SES Americom, a wholly owned subsidiary of SES Global, with more than 30 years experience, SES Americom is recognized worldwide as a leading provider of satellite capacity.
Ciel’s financial partner is Borealis Infrastructure, Canada’s leading manager of infrastructure investments. Borealis is an Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) corporation. OMERS manages pension fund assets valued at $34 billion.
