SaskTel is teaming up with SpaceX’s Starlink to provide satellite internet specifically to business customers and farms across the province. The new program officially launches on April 1, following 18 months of negotiations between the Saskatchewan crown corporation and the international satellite provider.
“Being a very sparsely populated province where you’ve got a few major urban centres surrounded by rural agricultural areas … it’s a very difficult proposition to deploy one type of broadband technology to serve everybody,” said Greg Jacobs, SaskTel’s external communications manager, to The Western Producer.
Under the new deal, any operation with a valid GST number—including family farms—qualifies as a business. This allows producers to bypass Starlink’s direct consumer route and work through SaskTel for equipment, billing, and technical support.
“Interested business customers can approach SaskTel and get the very same Starlink service that you would get if you were to approach Starlink directly,” Jacobs said. “The difference being that in the scenario where you would approach SaskTel, you can get the install done by SaskTel trained technicians.”
SaskTel previously used Starlink units to provide emergency overhead connectivity during the wildfires in Northern Saskatchewan last year. Because the hardware is already a proven product, the company is skipping a pilot phase and moving straight to a full rollout.
Jacobs noted that the ease of setup is a major factor for rural users. “The install of Starlink service is a little bit easier than if you were to have to plow a fibre cable to a home or something like that,” he said, adding that “the solutions that were available before Starlink really pale in comparison to what you can do with it now.”
Existing Starlink business customers also have the option to move their account over to SaskTel to consolidate their telecommunications into a single monthly bill.
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Its just about time. Have had Starlink for years. Will continue with Starlink. Don’t need all the bullshit i had with Fusion. To bad i am still stuck with sask Tel for a cell phone as we are captive to their monopoly in rural areas
Monopoly? Who the hell is going to spend all that money on building cell towers in Saskatchewan? Be thankful they spend as much as they do on infustructure. Just ask MB how its going since MTS sold out to Bell.