Telesat

Challenge

To remain competitive, Telesat needed to develop an advanced Low Earth Orbit Satellite network that would revolutionize global broadband technology by providing rural and remote users with high-speed internet connectivity across Canada and worldwide.

Other countries were investing billions of dollars in building their strategic satellite systems.  Competitors, including Space X and Amazon, are financially supported directly by the U.S. Government. SpaceX’s single largest revenue source is the $19 billion it receives annually in government contracts. Like its U.S competitors and as a Canadian company, Telesat needed to have the same kind of financial commitment from Canadian governments to help finance the approx. $6.5 billion the company needed to make its ambitions a reality.

Telesat’s challenge was how they could create a level playing field that would allow the company to compete successfully in this global technology space race, and engaged Crestview Strategy to help them make that happen.

Approach

Crestview Strategy’s integrated public affairs plan connected and engaged Telesat with federal and those provincial governments with a vested interest in solving internet connectivity issues. Through its direct lobbying efforts, the Crestview Strategy team positioned Telesat as the Canadian champion to solve a long-standing Canadian problem: a lack of reliable broadband access and that Telesat’s homegrown Low Earth Orbit Network would solve.

The agency addressed the funding issue by developing and leveraging a uniquely Canadian value proposition: If Telesat’s competition is being extensively funded by their domestic governments, Canada must surely do the same to remain competitive.

Results

The Crestview Strategy subject matter experts and the dedicated integrated project team provided Telesat with the engagement opportunities the company needed to drive its agenda and move forward with the financial support of the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario.

In August 2021, the Government of Canada announced an agreement-in-principle with Telesat to invest $1.44 billion into Telesat’s Low Earth Orbit satellite network. Also, in August 2021, the Government of Ontario committed to investing more than $109 million in Telesat’s Low Earth Orbit satellite network.