[ExDilbert]

Good news. After watching the incumbents drag their heels and renege on rural internet accessibility promises for a decade, some real competition is coming to Canada.

 

[timlocke]

Why does the CRTC get a say. Ground stations all in the US. I suppose they could, as they did with satellite tv make it illegal to import or sell or even put up the antennae.



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[RadioFlyer]

Why does the CRTC get a say. Ground stations all in the US. I suppose they could, as they did with satellite tv make it illegal to import or sell or even put up the antennae.



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Don't confuse the Broadcasting Act with the Telecommunications Açt and don't confuse the government (that passes laws) with the CRTC (the regulator that is tasked with enforcement).

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[Dr.Dave]

Licence Approved: 2020-10-09 to 2030-06-30. Interesting paragraph in the cover letter:

The Commission notes that a BITS licence does not by itself authorize an entity to operate as a facilities-based carrier or non-facilities-based service provider. All entities who provide services as a facilities-based carrier must at all times comply with the appropriate regulatory framework, including the ownership and control requirements of section 16 of the Act and the Canadian Telecommunications Common Carrier Ownership and Control Regulations. Entities who provide services as a non-facilities-based service provider must register as such with the Commission and comply at all times with the appropriate regulatory framework.

 

[ExDilbert]

Why does the CRTC get a say.

For starters, radio frequencies are regulated in Canada and most other countries. The use of radio frequencies for communications and other uses is tightly regulated. Anyone who wants to use RF for communications must have approval and they must use them in an approved manner. RF transmission often also requires licensing. There are a few low power bands that do not such as those for wifi and short range wireless telephones but they still require approval.

The RF bands for satellites are allocated by international agreement. Receiving satellite and other radio signals is one thing. That does not usually require approval for the receiving party. The satellite operator always requires approval. Using a ground station for two way communications is a different undertaking than simply receiving signals. Ground stations that transmit, big or small, must be approved. Normally, Industry Canada (IC) is the agency that allocates radio frequency use. The CRTC licenses individual operators that use the frequencies within the framework that IC provides.

 

[NovaMan]

Here's the CTV story.

Elon Musk's SpaceX gets CRTC application approval for Starlink satellite internet

Elon Musk's SpaceX moved closer to launching its Starlink high-speed satellite internet service in Canada after the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission approved the company's application for a licence.

www.ctvnews.ca

The CRTC said it received 2,585 interventions regarding the application and approved the application after considering all the comments received.

 

[NovaMan]

SpaceX Successfully Launch and Land 60 Starlink Satellites on October 18th.

Here's the video, in case you missed it.

 

[JamesK]

Here's some more info:

SpaceX granted basic telecom license in Canada

 

[RadioFlyer]

Licence Approved: 2020-10-09 to 2030-06-30. Interesting paragraph in the cover letter:

This is just boilerplate. Satellite service providers are exempted from the Canadian ownership and control requirements of the Telecommunications Act.

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[ExDilbert]

It just means that if they want to have a Canadian presence, such a ground based communications facilities or a sales office in Canada then they must get a telecommunications license. As long as all operations and facilities are on foreign soil, the BITS license is sufficient for selling and providing service to Canadians. This condition is really a disservice to Canadians. Since SpaceX has no Canadian presence, it pays no Canadian taxes, employs no Canadians and is not subject to Canadian privacy, or any other, laws. Since Canadians have no rights in the US, the US government can monitor all Canadian sourced communications on SpaceX systems in the US and do what they want with it. Unfortunately, applying for a telecommunications license would subject SpaceX to a lot of Canadian government regulation and taxation, something I'm sure they will gladly avoid.

 

[JasperJoe]

Can't the murcains already monitor out terrestrial comms because in their infinite wisdom, CDN telecoms carriers run their network backbones through USA?

 

[JamesK]

@JasperJoe Why do you think Canadian companies do that? While Bell peers in the U.S., IIRC, Rogers and others peer at 151 Front St. W., in Toronto. Also, not that long ago, Allstream was bought by Zayo, because Zayo wanted their cross Canada network. There is plenty of bandwidth crossing the country and how the traffic goes depends on the routing policies.

Just for fun, I did a traceroute to the Vancouver library, from Mississauga, Ont. There are 9 hops, including my firewall, between here and their network, though I wasn't able to reach the actual host. At hop 5, I'm still at Rogers in Toronto.

1 ######## (172.16.0.1) 0.249 ms 0.204 ms 0.190 ms
2 ######## (########) 14.847 ms 16.576 ms 16.938 ms
3 24.156.150.221 (24.156.150.221) 15.318 ms 15.512 ms 15.707 ms
4 0-5-0-8-cgw01.bloor.rmgt.net.rogers.com (209.148.233.181) 21.115 ms 69.63.249.82 (69.63.249.82) 20.85
5 ms 0-4-0-8-cgw01.bloor.rmgt.net.rogers.com (209.148.233.177) 20.597 ms
5 209.148.235.30 (209.148.235.30) 19.336 ms 20.200 ms 25.329 ms
6 * * *
7 * * *
8 208.181.184.250 (208.181.184.250) 68.665 ms 74.269 ms 73.972 ms
9 207.194.177.227 (207.194.177.227) 72.496 ms 73.699 ms 73.359 ms
10 * * *
Some addresses masked to protect the guilty. The library's address is 207.194.177.210, which is within the last network listed in line 9. I don't see much heading into the U.S.. It appears to be only 3 hops between Rogers Toronto and the libraries network, which would indicate Rogers has a trunk directly between Toronto and Vancouver. That means there are more hops between me and the Rogers office on Bloor St, than the rest of the way to the library. The only other way they could have so few hops between here & there is to use a VPN, which I doubt they're doing.

 

[NovaMan]

Elon Musk is a Canadian citizen, and that's good enough for me. Not many major international telecoms are run by Canadians.

 

[sodly]

SpaceX Starlink service is not a go in Canada yet despite CRTC license - SpaceQ

Despite what you may have read, SpaceX is not authorized yet to offer Starlink service in Canada. In

spaceq.ca

 

[NovaMan]

@sodly
The above is my only comment on that article!

 

[NovaMan]

This video shows how well SpaceX performs in early beta tests.

 

[sodly]

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/27/spacex-starlink-service-priced-at-99-a-month-public-beta-test-begins.html

 

[NovaMan]

Looks like they are targeting the northwest United States for this test. This statement would keep me from investing at this time: "There will also be brief periods of no connectivity at all.”

 

[gdmaclew]

$499 for the equipment? That's a total non-starter for me.
It was a nice dream tho'.

 

[NovaMan]

That is quite expensive gdmaclew, and I assume those are American dollars. That's $662.50 in Canadian Dollars. People who buy electronics early always pay more. I remember paying $1000 for an early satellite receiver and around the same price for a VCR in the 80's!