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 Telesat’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.

“We have expanded into Bhutan and Kazakhstan and look forward to bringing broadband satellite services to more countries in 2010,” 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.