On February 22, British satellite broadband operator Avanti Communications announced plans to integrate services in low Earth orbit. Canadian Telesat plans to launch in 2027 with its regional geostationary network.
As part of their strategic partnership, the companies will jointly develop ways for Avanti’s corporate and government customers to connect with the Telesat Lightspeed constellation.
They will also explore using Avanti’s existing terrestrial infrastructure in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa to support and accelerate the LEO group’s commercial deployment.
Financial details were not disclosed.
This is the first deal that Avanti has announced as part of its multi-orbit strategy, which was unveiled in November. It comes four years after the company exited consumer broadband to focus more on cellular transportation, governments, and selling satellite capacity to other operators.
Satellites in LEO can provide broadband with lower latency compared to orbits farther from Earth. However, geostationary spacecraft flying 35 times higher can provide more capacity in high-demand areas.
Telesat operates a fleet of geostationary satellites and plans to use its LEO network to compete with Eutelsat, SES, and other operators in the increasingly crowded multi-orbit broadband market.
SpaceX is set to launch 198 MDA satellites in the Telesat Lightspeed constellation in mid-2026.
Regional geostationary operators such as Avanti, which has a fleet of five Ka-band broadband satellites, hope their local expertise and distribution networks will make them attractive partners in the face of growing competition from LEO and multi-orbit networks.
In November, Avanti CEO Kyle Whitehill said that the company is still several months away from purchasing capacity from an undisclosed LEO operator, which will expand its geographic presence worldwide.
Whitehill said Avanti plans to launch this capacity in 2024, assuming the operator is Eutelsat or SpaceX, whose Starlink broadband system is the largest, with more than 5,400 satellites in LEO.