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Muscowpetung Saulteaux Nation announced on September 28, 2023, that it has successfully connected every home in its community to SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet constellation, reports Tesla North.
The initiative to bring widespread high speed internet on the reservation began in December 2022, and aimed to bridge the digital divide in the Indigenous community located in the Qu’Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan, located about 50 minutes northeast of Regina.
“By connecting our entire community with Starlink, we will be providing our children greater access to resource sharing tools and higher learning,” said Chief Melissa Tavita. She emphasized that Muscowpetung is the only Indigenous community in Saskatchewan where every residence has such high-speed internet access.
The project extends beyond residential areas. Administration buildings, including the School, Health Centre, and Band Office, are also connected to Starlink. “This connectivity ushers Muscowpetung into expanded economic opportunities and promises an enhanced quality of life for all members,” the community stated, thanks to the 127 Starlink dishes installed.
The initiative was supported by SpaceX, particularly its Communications Team led by Bianca Reinhart. Anaquod Videography was also acknowledged for creating video content that highlights this digital milestone.
Check out the video below:
In December 2022, Muscowpetung Saulteaux Nation took a monumental step into the digital age by launching #Starlink. We are proud to announce that every home in our community is now connected to Starlink, the world’s fastest satellite internet constellation available to the… pic.twitter.com/VNrurK3TMW
— MuscowpetungRez (@MuscowpetungRez) September 28, 2023
Numerous Indigenous communities have embraced Starlink for its ease of installation and use. Back in July, Manitoba committed $100,000 CAD from its Criminal Property Forfeiture Fund (CPF) to set up Starlink internet for numerous communities.
Starlink just requires a user to plug in a satellite dish and point it towards the sky to get connected online, as there’s no need for telecoms to dig and install fibre optic lines to reach remote places.
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Satellite is great when there is not a better solution available. With all of these government grants available to build fiber optic networks, it seems surprising that a place in the southern half of Saskatchewan, which should be one of the easiest places on the planet to run fiber, would be using a satellite system.
I expected this community to be somewhere very remote, not 50 minutes north of Regina. Even in the absence of fibre, some kind of terrestrial line-of-sight relay system was probably quite feasible even if they’re in the valley. This tech has been delivering high speed internet in the Prince Albert, SK rural region for over two decades by a company called Inet2000.