YELLOWKNIFE and LUXEMBOURG — SSi Canada, the developer-operator of Qiniq broadband and SSi Mobile services in Nunavut, and Luxembourg-based satellite operator SES Networks, today announced they have entered into a partnership to deliver new satellite capacity to Canada’s north, including all 25 communities of Nunavut.
Under the new multi-year agreement, SES Networks will provide backbone capacity to support and improve SSi Canada’s Qiniq and SSi Mobile phone services throughout the territory, says the press release announcing the partnership. The announcement comes at a critical time for Nunavut, when the Covid-19 crisis has led to an unprecedented need for reliable Internet and mobile communication services as Nunavummiut move increasingly to work, study and shop online and at home, says the release.
“As a global operator, SES Networks understands the challenges faced by underserved regions of the world and SSi’s ongoing commitment to overcome these challenges. SES Networks is certainly the right partner at the right time,” said Jeff Philipp, CEO and founder of SSi, in the release.
In addition, the new SES-SSi satellite footprint covers much more than Nunavut, enabling connectivity improvements across Canada.
“Thanks to timely regulatory approvals from the Canadian government, we are now working hard to bring this new capacity online as quickly as possible,” added Philipp. “This is an essential step to ensure continuity of Qiniq broadband, and we look forward to expanding our network offerings and capabilities in the coming months and years as we work to deliver on the government’s goal of broadband connectivity for every Canadian, no matter where they live.”
“For years we’ve been providing services to Northern Canada and know that the digital divide is challenging for people living in remote and rural areas,” said Omar Trujillo, vice-president of sales, fixed data Americas, at SES Networks. “Canada’s bold vision to connect every citizen to broadband this decade aligns with the innovative solutions SSi Canada has been providing to its customers for years. We are happy to bring our expertise of operating more than 70 geostationary and medium earth orbit satellites to help SSi Canada scale up their backbone, ensuring that the remote communities in Nunavut are at the forefront in achieving the 50/10 Mbps threshold.”
As we reported previously, SSi Canada sounded the alarm in November about the “serious risk” the company’s Qiniq customers faced in Nunavut due to lack of federal funding. At the time, the company said the federal broadband subsidy which had allowed it to offer broadband services in Nunavut had run out. SES has also proposed medium earth orbit satellites is another possible solution to broadband in outlying regions.
In an email today to Cartt.ca, SSi Canada’s manager of communications, David Veniot added: “This SES satellite capacity is a result of our aggressive work to find solutions — it is an interim solution that buys us time while we await federal funding. It allows us to maintain current Qiniq service levels, not raise prices and/or shut down services in any communities.”
