Bell and its northern arm Northwesttel are lobbying the CRTC to remove Starlink from a subsidy program that helps remote Canadians get online.
Bell’s main argument is that since Starlink offers a flat rate across the country, there is no need for it to get subsidies from the government. Traditionally, those subsidies were to help Bell and other telecoms install the hardware infrastructure needed to connect a remote home.
According to a report obtained by the Financial Times, Starlink has hit back against Bell, saying that singling the satellite-based carrier out would be anti-competitive. Starlink has fought and lost this fight before. In 2022, it was cut out of $900 million of U.S. government funding and grants designed to connect rural and remote residents.
In Canada, the proposed subsidy would see internet providers getting $25 per person per month from the government to help justify the expensive cost of building remote infrastructure. This adds up to about $300 per year, and Fortune is reporting that Starlink’s penetration into the Far North region of Canada would net it close to $3.15 million per year in subsidies.
While Starlink may have the best blanket coverage across Canada, Northwestel has been working with the Canadian satellite company Telesat to bring smaller targeted low-earth orbit (LEO) constellations into working order above remote areas.
In 2023, the two companies moved ten communities over to an LEO connection. However, Northwestel’s website reveals maximum speeds of 15Mbps, which is considerably slower than Starlink.
Overall, this fight shows how tightly Canada was tied to the U.S. and how the trade war affects everyday people here. There is a good argument to be made for withholding public funds from SpaceX since Elon Musk is so closely tied to the U.S. president and the ongoing tariff situation.
On the other hand, if I were a kid living in a remote community and could no longer afford modern high-speed internet because of this situation, I would be upset.
Recent reports have revealed that Starlink has 400,000 customers across Canada, and considering how expensive Starlink is to start because you need to buy a satellite receiver, I would expect that a huge majority of these customers didn’t have modern high-speed options available from a Canadian carrier.
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