Northerners who live in rural areas not included in high-speed internet upgrades by mainstream service providers may soon have an option that is out of this world. The province announced last week an agreement with satellite-based service Starlink to “offer high-speed satellite internet access to 15,000 eligible un-served and under-served homes and businesses, including in rural, remote and northern communities, beginning in June.” The agreement is to create a new agency called the Ontario Satellite Internet program. Financial details weren’t available, but the province said in a news release the new program is to be included in $4 billion it plans to have spent on beefing up internet services across Ontario by next year. “More details on the program and the registration process for eligible primary residences and businesses will be available” in the spring, the news release said. Some homeowners in rural Thunder Bay communities like Neebing have found Starlink to be reliable, but more expensive than what’s available from ground-based service providers. Starlink is a division of Texas-based SpaceX, which is owned by American tech-entrepreneur Elon Musk. The company has been criticized by astronomers, who claim the increase in the number of low-orbit satellites cluttering up the night sky is making it difficult for them to conduct research. In 2022, Tbaytel started construction on a $36-million fibre-optic expansion that aims to connect 2,565 households to high-speed internet in the six municipalities just outside Thunder Bay: Conmee, Gillies, Neebing, O’Connor, Oliver Paipoonge and Shuniah. That project is expected to be complete by the end of 2025. Nov. 20, 2024