New Brunswick’s Xplornet Communications Inc. announced today that the launch the Viasat-1 satellite has been set for this Wednesday October 19th at 2:48pm EST.

Calling it North America's first 4G broadband satellite, Xplornet says Viasat will enable the company to expand and improve its high speed internet service offerings in rural and remote areas of Canada.

The company says it has purchased 100% of the Canadian Ka-band capacity on the satellite, and will use that capacity entirely for rural broadband. ViaSat-1 can support customer download speeds of up to 25 Mbps, and its capacity is greater than the capacity of all current North American broadband satellites combined, with the ability to provide broadband service to 1.5 million customers in North America.

Xplornet typically offers 1.5 Mbps service in rural and remote areas for about $70 per month.

The satellite launch is part of Xplornet’s multi-year project to create a national 4G network. The network will be supported by approximately 1,000 terrestrial towers and new 4G High-Throughput Satellites (HTS), starting with the launch of Viasat-1 this year and followed by Hughes-Jupiter in early 2012
Viasat-1 will be launched from the Baikonur Cosmodromein Kazakhstan, the world's first and largest operational space launch facility. The satellite will be stationed in geosynchronous orbit at an altitude of 35,786 km.

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