MONTREAL, March 24, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Telesat Canada, a wholly owned subsidiary of BCE Inc. (TSX:BCE), and EMS Satellite Networks, a division of EMS Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:ELMG), announced today that they have been selected by the Canadian Space Agency ("CSA") to deploy a DVB-RCS system using DVB-S2 technology on the Ka-band payload of Telesat's Anik F2 satellite.
Telesat and EMS will demonstrate a unique combination of technologies as part of this project. The system will be operated from Telesat's Vancouver gateway over three of Anik F2's Ka-band spot beams covering northern Canada. In addition to the DVB-S2 component of the demonstration, the system will support adaptive carrier rates, allowing remote terminals to switch between carriers with different carrier rates to adjust for signal fade conditions at Ka-band. EMS will also demonstrate its latest embedded acceleration and compression technologies.
Telesat and EMS hope that this effort will lead to commercial services to northern communities utilizing this state-of-the-art technology in 2006.
"Telesat looks forward to experimenting with DVB-RCS, which is a key international standard for broadband satellite services," said Paul Bush, Vice President, Broadcasting and Corporate Development. "As well, this project will give us an opportunity to test a number of government applications as a precursor to possible follow-on commercial services."
"EMS has been at the forefront of open standard, two-way satellite communications since the early 1990's," said Don Osborne, Senior Vice President and General Manager, EMS Satellite Networks. "This initiative complements ongoing internal research-and-development efforts to maintain our technology leadership in this market."
About Telesat
Telesat is a pioneer and world leader in satellite operations and systems management. The company made history in 1972 with the launch of the first domestic commercial communications satellite in geostationary orbit. Today, Telesat competes with other top international satellite fleets in providing telecommunications and broadcasting services throughout the Americas, and is a leading consultant, operator and partner in satellite ventures around the globe. Telesat is a wholly owned subsidiary of BCE Inc., a leading communications company with shares listed in the United States, Canada and Europe.
About EMS Technologies, Inc.
EMS Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:ELMG) is a leading innovator in the design and manufacture of wireless, satellite and defense solutions, and focuses its unique range of advanced technologies on the needs of broadband and mobile information users. The Company is headquartered in Atlanta, has approximately 1,700 workers worldwide, and operates manufacturing facilities in Atlanta, Ottawa, Montreal and Brazil.
The Satellite Networks Division of EMS Technologies has played a critical role in the development of the DVB-RCS international open standard for high-speed bi-directional Internet communications via satellite, and is a leading provider of broadband satellite communications ground terminal and hub solutions. EMS's DVB-RCS product and technology solutions enable two-way broadband access for a wide range of networking applications. Applications range from Internet access and simple web browsing, to more sophisticated virtual private networks, videoconferencing and voice-over-IP. EMS's DVB-RCS solutions are the only multiple-access solutions capable of delivering data transfer rates of up to 45Mbps for downloads and up to 4Mbps for uploads at each remote terminal, or enough bandwidth to support anything from a small business to an entire community from a single remote terminal.
For additional information, visit EMS on the World Wide Web at www.ems-t.com.