Satellite fleet operator Telesat of Ottawa, Canada, said Jan. 28 it had signed a multiyear agreement with Orbitnet LLC of Mongolia for Ku-band capacity on the Telesatโ€™sTelstar 18 satellite.

Orbitnet Technical Director SukhbaatarPagvajav said in a statement that the leased capacity would be used to provide broadband satellite services to business, government and cellular operators in Mongolia, Kazakhstan and other developing nations in the region.

โ€œWe have expanded into Bhutan and Kazakhstan and look forward to bringing broadband satellite services to more countries in 2010,โ€ Pagvajav said.

Telestar 18 is located at 138 degrees east. Its Ku-band footprint reaches Afghanistan with full coverage of India, China, North Korea, South Korea and Southeast Asia. Its wide-beam C-band coverage reaches from Hawaii to India and neighboring countries, including Afghanistan.