Starlink Surges in Northern Ontario After Xplore Pulls the Plug

A growing number of Xplore customers in northern Ontario say they’re losing their satellite internet service and switching to SpaceX’s Starlink instead.

Nick Lavoie, who runs Northern Internet Solutions, says his phone has been ringing with calls from frustrated users. “They’ve been calling, reaching out to me and just telling me, ‘Hey Nick, I’m being cut off,’” he told CBC News.

Xplore (formerly Xplornet), confirmed that one of its satellite partners is shutting down, which means “a small portion” of its customers will lose service by late November or early December, depending on location. The company did not say how many households are affected but said it is “working diligently” to move users to its fixed wireless or fibre internet where available.

The rural provider added that it’s investing $1.6 billion over the next few years to expand and upgrade its network in remote parts of Canada.

In Worthington, near Greater Sudbury, longtime Xplore customer Cathy Prentice received an email saying her satellite service would end in December. “It worked pretty well. People complained about it, but I never did,” she said. Since Xplore doesn’t offer other options at her address, Prentice turned to Starlink. “It’s fine. I find it’s a little bit more expensive than Xplornet,” she added.

The governments announced a $1.2-billion joint broadband initiative in 2021 to help fund that expansion. Meanwhile, Canadian company Telesat (backed by U.S. investors) is developing its own satellite network, Lightspeed, with a ground station planned for Timmins.

For now, Starlink appears to be filling the gap left by Xplore’s satellite shutdown. But with new players like Telesat preparing to launch their own low-orbit networks (who knows when it will actually go live; the service will be sold to Canadians through resellers), rural Canadians may soon have more choices — and fewer reasons to feel cut off.