It will be years before we have a Canadian alternative
While Ontario may have ripped up a deal with Elon Musk’s Starlink internet company, many services around the country still rely on the U.S.-based service provider.
A new report from The Canadian Press says that the crown energy corporation in Newfoundland and Labrador has a $200,000-per-year deal with Starlink, and B.C. uses it for remote ambulance services and wildfire response services. Alberta and Nova Scotia also offer Starlink rebates to residents who live in remote areas.
Manitoba also has a Starlink contract, but according to the report, it is monitoring the trade-war situation and considering its options. Nunavut and the Northwest Territories also have small use cases for Musk’s remote internet.
On top of that, sources who spoke to the publication suggested that upwards of 500,000 Canadians might already be signed up for the service since it’s still the best option for true high-speed internet in most remote and even semi-remote areas of the country.
For instance, my parents live literally minutes from the border of Renfrew, ON, a town of 8,000 people close to Ottawa, and they can’t get high-speed at their house. People down the street who are still in the town boarder can, but my parents can’t. I think this illustrates that internet dead zones are not just in remote communities, but realistically, there are lots of small dead zones once you move away from most city centres.
There is potential for a Canadian version of Starlink called Telesat, which has been a Canadian space company for years and is on the verge of launching its low-earth orbit satellite communications network. It received a $C15 million investment from the federal government a few weeks ago as it expands its operations.
That said, Starlink has a significant lead in space, considering how long it takes to build up a satellite constellation as large as Starlinks. Starlink has over 11,000 satellites, and Telesat is only hoping to launch 198 of its units in 2026 after multiple delays, and it’s planning to use SpaceX rockets to deploy them, reports BetaKit.
Even once it gets these satellites over Canada, Telesat has said that its focus has been on business clients, so it remains to be seen if this will be a significant player for average Canadians.
Source: Canadian Press, BetaKit
MobileSyrup may earn a commission from purchases made via our links, which helps fund the journalism we provide free on our website. These links do not influence our editorial content. Support us here.
