India needs to harness LEO satellite connectivity; Nelco, Telesat cooperate to make this happen

Continuing advances in technology, combined with the ever-growing demand for broadband connectivity in India, especially in its remote locations, has led to some high-profile projects which intend to leverage the unique capabilities of low earth orbit (LEO) satellites.

Striving to harness LEO satellite connectivity for India is the country’s very own satellite communication service provider Nelco.

The company has entered into a cooperation agreement with global satellite operator Telesat on terrestrial facilities, commercial distribution, and regulatory frameworks to offer Telesat LEO satellite connectivity in India.

Nelco-Telesat to power Indian satellite connectivity

Globally, the satellite communications industry has been growing at a rapid pace owing to advancements in technology, light-touch regulations, and an increase in Internet traffic demands.

LEO satellites are poised to revolutionize the industry, and with the prospective opening of the space sector in India, Nelco, through its strategic relationship with Telesat, plans to serve new market segments and requirements for high-bandwidth, low latency applications with Telesat LEO connectivity.

Telesat, with its LEO, is a satellite constellation that leverages its global, priority Ka-band spectrum rights and patent-pending architecture to fundamentally transform global communications.

Telesat LEO wants to help close the digital divide in remote and challenging locations, accelerate 5G expansion, and set new levels of performance for enterprise, telecom, mobility and government broadband connectivity on land, air and sea.

The Telesat LEO constellation is capable of providing complete coverage of broadband in India and the company also claims that superior enterprise connectivity in the country, subject to the necessary regulatory clearances, can be met with the LEO satellites.

It is believed that the availability of the Telesat LEO Network in India has the potential to provide significant benefits in areas like 4G/5G backhaul, mobile hotspots, distance education, telemedicine, village connectivity, as well as maritime and inflight connectivity. The open architecture, compliant with the Metro Ethernet Forum standard, will simplify the integration of Telesat LEO services with enterprise networks, including Nelco infrastructure and service offerings. Acting as a virtual fibre network, Telesat LEO Layer 2 transport service can deliver hundreds of Mbps to a terminal.

According to P J Nath, MD & CEO of NELCO, the partnership with Telesat will bring LEO satellites into the country, which has the potential to revolutionize connectivity in the future.

The Telesat LEO satellites incorporate next-generation technologies, including:

• Data Processing in Space: Full digital modulation, demodulation, and data routing occurs in space, resulting in higher capacity and flexibility
• Phased Array Antennas: Sophisticated antennas on each satellite with hopping and reconfigurable beams scan the earth to provide full coverage and can dynamically focus capacity precisely where required
• Optical Inter-satellite Links: Data can travel at the speed of light from one satellite to another, resulting in a fully interconnected global mesh network in space.

“We are honored to collaborate with Nelco, a highly innovative and respected enterprise connectivity leader in India,” stated Michael Schwartz, Telesat’s Senior Vice President, Corporate and Business Development. “Telesat LEO’s secure, high throughput, the low-latency network will bring unsurpassed performance and flexibility for enterprise applications and extend the reach of terrestrial networks throughout India.”