Satellite to boost Internet access
Rural Canada to get faster speeds, says Xplornet
Rural Canada is poised to get better Internet access, and the promise has nothing to do with the federal telecom regulator’s looming decision on how to ensure access to broadband in rural and remote regions.
Xplornet Communications Inc., a Canadian rural broadband provider, celebrated the successful launch of a new satellite EchoStar XIX from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Sunday. It says the satellite owned by Hughes Network Systems LLC is the “highest-capacity broadband satellite ever launched.”
It’s one of two satellites that the Woodstock, N.B.-based company claims will triple its current satellite Internet capacity once both are in orbit by next year. By spring 2017, Xplornet expects to be able to offer speeds of up to 25 MBps — five times faster than the five MBps target set five years ago by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
“This satellite will enable Xplornet to deliver more — measurably improving service for our loyal customers and providing new customers with more data at speeds not previously seen in many parts of Canada,” CEO Allison Lenehan said in a statement. Xplornet is the only Canadian residential provider with capacity on this satellite. It invested more than $200 million in the program.
Typical Xplornet plans in the North offer speeds of up to 10 Mbps and data caps of up to 100 GB. It can be extremely expensive to go over data caps, especially in remote areas such as Nunavut, and many of its plans recommend not watching Netflix. Elsewhere in Canada its fixed-wireless tech already allows for speeds up to 25 Mbps. The new satellites will allow it to boost speeds and caps to be more in line with urban centres with comparable prices.
The news comes as the CRTC prepares to release its decision on what constitutes a basic telecommunications service on Wednesday.
At a public hearing in April, consumer advocacy groups implored it declare download speeds of at least 10 MBps a basic service. About 1.5 per cent of Canadians did not have access to five MBps as of 2015 and four per cent could not get 10 MBps, according to the CRTC’s latest report.