SaskTel and Starlink now partners for businesses in rural Saskatchewan

A new partnership brings high-speed satellite internet to more rural Saskatchewan businesses and communities. Mick Favel has the story.

High speed wireless internet is now an option for more places in Saskatchewan, thanks to a new partnership between SaskTel and Starlink.

Businesses in rural areas now have the choice to get a connection to Starlink through SaskTel.

Greg Jacobs is an external communications manager at SaskTel. He said this option is effective for businesses without a broadband connection.

“The Starlink solution is an excellent solution that provides a similar experience you are going to have in an urban environment like Regina,” he said.

The Starlink service involves thousands of satellites orbiting Earth. The bandwidth comes from this connection. Because the signal is vertical, this option is good for many areas and elevations.

Muscowpetung Saulteaux Nation is now in its fourth year of using Starlink. They reached out to SpaceX in 2022 to see if it would be the right internet option.

“Bringing SpaceX to Muscowpetung contributed to the improvement of our quality of life,” said Myke Agecoutay, a headman from Muscowpetung Saulteaux Nation.

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“Most of our communities are situated in rural centres. We don’t have that fiber optic connection. Starlink, they serve that immediate remedy,” he added.

When installing, the speed connection was gauged. Before, homes were getting an eight mbps connection. With Starlink, the connection jumped to 220 mbps.

Every home and building on the community now has a Starlink antenna. Each antenna is able to accommodate up to 20 devices at a time.

Throughout the pandemic, this wireless connection helped nation members work from home, attend school and several other tasks.

“It opened up an avenue to make a lot of services that were harder for us to access. Being in a rural area [Starlink] made it easier with that access,” said Tristan Cappo, an executive assistant for Muscowpetung Chief & Council.

There are roughly 34,000 farms in Saskatchewan. Many farms are incorporated businesses. These businesses can access Starlink.

“It’s not just a big farm operating or a small mom and pop shop outside an urban development. Our farms, producers all across the province that might benefit from this relationship,” Jacobs said.

Those who already using Starlink can transfer over to SaskTel over the phone. SaskTel says they will be offering service and support for Starlink.