Dish Network to use all of Nimiq 5

[juls]

Telesat Completes Agreements for Satellite Capacity with Bell TV and EchoStar Corporation
Bell TV Commits to Construction of New Canadian Broadcast Satellite and EchoStar Will Use Entire Available Nimiq 5 Payload

OTTAWA CANADA,– Telesat, the world’s fourth largest fixed satellite services operator, announced today that it has completed agreements for new satellite capacity with two of its key customers, Bell TV and EchoStar Corporation (Nasdaq: SATS).

Bell TV, the leading provider of direct-to-home services in Canada, has agreed to utilize a new Telesat direct broadcast satellite which is planned for construction beginning in the first quarter of 2010. The new satellite will augment Bell TV’s capacity and capabilities at its prime orbital locations of 82 and 91 degrees West. EchoStar, which had previously contracted for half the capacity of Telesat’s new Nimiq 5 satellite, has now committed to use the entire available Nimiq 5 payload for the anticipated 15-year life of the satellite.

“We are very pleased to have entered into arrangements that meet the strategic requirements of Bell TV and EchoStar, two longstanding and important Telesat customers,” said Dan Goldberg, Telesat’s President and CEO. “We look forward to the launch of Nimiq 5 scheduled for later today and beginning construction on the new satellite for Bell TV early next year.”

Nimiq 5 is scheduled for launch on a Proton rocket September 18th from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan (September 17th in Ottawa) and is intended to operate in geostationary orbit from 72.7 degrees West. EchoStar expects to provide capacity from Nimiq 5, which has 32 high-powered Ku-band transponders, to its customer, DISH Network L.L.C., a wholly owned subsidiary of DISH Network Corporation, for the delivery of direct-to-home television services