The role of satellites in the Information Superhighway

Universal access to the Information Superhighway infrastructure is a major principle advanced by the Canadian government to guide the development and implementation of the infrastructure. The ultimate aim of this information revolution is to ensure that everyone will have access to information, anytime, anywhere, at reasonable cost. To this end, satellites are uniquely qualified to ensure universal access to the infrastructure, for the cost of wiring every home, office, hospital, library, and school in many areas not currently served by terrestrial digital networks would be prohibitive. In addition, satellite communications is at a crucial juncture, in that new advanced satellite system designs will dramatically change the cost-structure of satellite communications, making it affordable to residential users. An advanced satcom concept is introduced which could provide a very large user base with small, easy-to-install, low-cost, high-rate terminals, while meeting the high performance requirements associated with wideband multimedia applications.