SaskTel partners with Starlink | The Western Producer
Saskatchewan businesses, including farms, now have the option of Starlink through Sasktel.
The Saskatchewan telecommunications company has entered a partnership with the international satellite internet provider, with the program officially available to customers April 1, after a year and a half of conversations.
“Interested business customers can approach Sasktel and get the very same Starlink service that you would get if you were to approach Starlink directly,” said Greg Jacobs, external communications manager at Sasktel.
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“The difference being that in the scenario where you would approach Sasktel, you can get the install done by Sasktel trained technicians.”
Why it Matters: With Sasktel, farms count as businesses, which means producers can use Sasktel business plans and offerings, such as the Starlink partnership.
Installation, equipment purchases and billing can all be handled with and through Sasktel, so customers don’t need to contact Starlink. Additionally, existing Starlink business customers can move to Sasktel and continue using Starlink service while having a single Sasktel services bill.
The partnership came about with the need to better serve Saskatchewan residents because current infrastructure doesn’t enable efficient and accessible use of communication services such as cell service and internet.
“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 Jacobs.
Technology has its strengths and weaknesses, including fibre optics, cell towers and satellites.
Fibre optic cable is a great solution for densely populated, urban areas because the cost is quickly recovered, but not so much in rural areas.
Broadband, and its latest iteration in fibre optisc, has been the status quo since internet connections became mainstream. Starlink and low-earth orbit satellites provide a “high quality solution” that offers a quick route to connection.
Starlink enables Sasktel to offer improved internet connectivity and reliability to business customers without having to launch their own new technology.
“The solutions that were available before Starlink really pale in comparison to what you can do with it now,” Jacobs added.
“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, and then run wiring through it.… You’re installing a receiving unit, either on the roof or on a pole somewhere nearby, and then you’re installing a modem.”
There wasn’t a pilot project or trial of the integration because Starlink is an established product and Sasktel has used the systems in the past to provide internet connection, such as with the wildfires in Northern Saskatchewan last year.
A misconception is that only the “big” farms are businesses, which isn’t the case. Every farm operation is a business, and with that, they qualify for business benefits.
The main stipulation that Sasktel holds for customers to qualify as a business is that they must have a valid GST number.
Source: producer.com