Montreal’s Terrestar Solutions scored two big wins on February 6, 2025 through bank financing and a deal with the automotive industry.
For the record, Terrestar has exclusive rights to the Echostar T1 geostationary satellite’s Canadian capacity and a Canadian licence for 40MHz of S-band spectrum. This lets Terrestar offer mobile satellite communications across Canada through its Strigo brand.
In the first piece of good news, Terrestar recently concluded a financing deal with TD Bank Group. Although the specific amount was not released to the media, it is part of the $500 million financing plan that will allow Terrestar to “make major investments in a constellation of low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellites to ensure greater communications capacity and a wider range of services for its users,” said a Terrestar news release. “This newfound mobile connectivity will be seamlessly integrated into existing terrestrial networks to eventually cover 100% of the Canadian territory. What’s more, the services will be available to all consumers and businesses, regardless of their land-based mobile service provider.”
“Mobile phones are a lifeline,” said Jacques Leduc, CEO of Terrestar Solutions, in the same news release. “Cellular networks have coverage limits, making our mobile devices useless in countless areas across the country. At Terrestar, we’re going to bridge those coverage gaps by connecting everyone everywhere to everything.”
Terrestar’s second win for the day comes from its founding membership in the Mobile Satellite Services Association (MSSA), which promotes the development of direct-to-device (D2D) and Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity through Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) providers to extend mobile coverage globally. On February 6, 2025, the MSSA formed an alliance with the 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) “to advance global collaboration in the integration of terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks (NTNs), focusing on Direct-to-Device (D2D) and IoT services,” said a joint MSSA/5GAA news release. (The 5GAA is a global association of global automakers, Tier-1 suppliers, mobile operators, semiconductor companies, and test equipment vendors.)
According to that news release, the MSSA/5GAA alliance will work together on technological research and development, spectrum management, and the integration of satellite and cellular networks. “This alliance addresses one of the largest target markets for NTN augmentation of mobile networks and the automotive industry’s demand for standards-based, open architecture solutions enabled by a 5G ecosystem including licensed satellite spectrum holders,” said MSSA Chair Mark Dankberg.
Meanwhile, 5GAA’s collaboration with MSSA “is a pivotal moment for the advancement of ubiquitous connected mobility,” added Johannes Springer, Director General of 5GAA. “By making non-terrestrial networks interworking with our cellular technology, we can create more resilient, scalable solutions that meet the growing demand for safer, more efficient transportation systems. This alliance strengthens our ability to innovate and address critical challenges in connected and autonomous driving, road safety, and intelligent traffic management on a global scale.”
According to the MSSA/5GAA news release, both organizations are committed to efficient, scalable, standards-based, open architecture solutions that can support “a varied and disparate global regulatory framework. The collaboration will also focus on augmenting next-generation communication technologies, including Cellular-V2X, which will enable advanced road safety applications and connected mobility solutions for a global audience.”
In December 2024 the company announced it had achieved a network milestone for mobile satellite services having successfully transmitted live data sessions via Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) from the ground and back via the TSI Echostar T1 satellite, as the basis of a Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN).
