The Ontario government is partnering with SpaceX’s Starlink to bring high-speed satellite internet to 15,000 homes and businesses that don’t have reliable access, especially in remote, rural, and northern parts of the province.
The new Ontario Satellite Internet (ONSAT) program will start in June 2025, aiming to close internet service gaps.
“Our government is pleased to work with Starlink to offer a highly advanced satellite internet service that will help people living and working in the hardest to reach areas of the province access high-speed internet,” said Kinga Surma, Minister of Infrastructure, in a statement on Thursday.
The government says it’s working with Starlink, SpaceX’s low-Earth orbit satellite internet, to provide internet to areas where traditional methods like fibre and fixed wireless connections aren’t practical. The goal is for every community in Ontario to have high-speed internet by the end of 2025.
The program is set to launch by June 2025. Ontario will pay for equipment and installation costs (essentially Starlink hardware, consisting of the satellite dish and wireless router). Monthly fees will not be covered. Starlink costs $140 per month.
“It is an investment of close to $100 million,” Surma said, according to the Globe and Mail.
“SpaceX won after a ‘robust and transparent and competitive and fair technical and financial evaluation of multiple qualified parties,’” said Michael Lindsay, CEO of Infrastructure Ontario.
“Installation is relatively straightforward and fast,” said Joel Cherkis, who runs the business operations for Starlink.
They saw early success in 2020 when they rolled out the Starlink system to Pikangikum First Nation in northwestern Ontario, a remote community accessible only by air or an ice road in winter.
“The Starlink team that was working with them found that within 15 minutes of getting the Starlink kit off of the charter flight that arrived at the First Nation, they were able to be online and actually connecting users to high-speed broadband,” Cherkis said.
For those interested, details on how to sign up for the ONSAT program will be released in Spring 2025. This initiative is part of Ontario’s nearly $4 billion investment to improve high-speed internet access across the province. As of now, Ontario has connected over 100,000 homes and businesses and aims to reach 450,000 more by the end of 2025.
This Starlink partnership comes at a fraction of the cost of what the federal government and Quebec will spend on Telesat’s yet-to-be-launched satellite internet plan, which consists of $2.5 billion in loans.
SpaceX previously revealed they have over 400,000 active Starlink customers in Canada.
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Some quick math makes this look like a terrible deal, costing about $6,666 per installation. Right now you can go and buy the hardware for $500 and it often goes on sale for less, never mind that they should get a bulk discount for buying 15,000 units. Installation is also pretty darn simple and shouldn't cost thousands per address. And if all of the recipients can be expected to pay the $140 per month service fee, does this not beg the question as to why the government needs to be involved in the first place? With that kind of a monthly payment is the $500 hardware (that often sells for less) cost prohibitive for households and businesses? Something stinks here!