{"id":19768,"date":"2026-05-21T05:02:06","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T09:02:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mhgoldberg.com\/blog\/?p=19768"},"modified":"2026-05-20T04:58:52","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T08:58:52","slug":"the-last-mile-of-our-broadband-ambition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mhgoldberg.com\/blog\/?p=19768","title":{"rendered":"Completing our broadband ambition"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Canada\u2019s broadband ambition <a href=\"https:\/\/crtc.gc.ca\/eng\/archive\/2016\/2016-496.htm\" target=\"_blank\">has been defined<\/a> as having high-speed (50\/10) connectivity available to all Canadians by the year 2030. I wonder if it may be time to declare victory.<\/p>\n<p>Various broadband funding programs (<a href=\"https:\/\/ised-isde.canada.ca\/site\/high-speed-internet-canada\/en\/universal-broadband-fund\" target=\"_blank\">Universal Broadband Fund<\/a> &#8211; UBF, <a href=\"https:\/\/ised-isde.canada.ca\/site\/ised\/en\/programs-and-initiatives\/connect-innovate\" target=\"_blank\">Connect to Innovate<\/a>, provincial initiatives, the CRTC\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/crtc.gc.ca\/eng\/internet\/fnd\/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Broadband Fund<\/a>, etc.) have collectively pushed high\u2011speed connectivity deeper into rural and remote regions than ever before. Fibre builds now reach thousands of communities once considered uneconomic, and fixed wireless has filled many mid\u2011density gaps. Yet despite billions invested, a stubborn last 1\u20132% of households remain unserved, particularly in the North and in the most sparsely populated rural pockets.<\/p>\n<p>This is where Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite networks should be added to the broadband connectivity toolkit. Indeed, we might consider whether direct satellite-to-device is a satisfactory mobile solution for those remote communities currently lacking terrestrial-based coverage.<\/p>\n<p>LEO systems operate a few hundred kilometres above Earth, far closer than traditional geostationary satellites. This enables low\u2011latency, high\u2011throughput broadband rivalling terrestrial options. Starlink, the most mature LEO provider, now offers:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>High\u2011speed service with typical download speeds ranging from 45\u2013280 Mbps. <\/li>\n<li>Low latency (25\u201360 ms), suitable for video calls, cloud apps, and real\u2011time services. <\/li>\n<li>Global availability, including remote and northern regions. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Why isn&#8217;t Starlink considered to be an obvious choice to fulfill Canada&#8217;s broadband ambition? For households beyond the economic reach of fibre or microwave backhaul, LEO solutions eliminate the need for towers, rights\u2011of\u2011way, or construction seasons. A dish, a clear view of the sky, and power are enough.<\/p>\n<p>Based on publicly available <a href=\"https:\/\/starlink.com\/ca\/map\" target=\"_blank\">coverage maps<\/a> and service availability data, Starlink\u2019s constellation covers all populated regions of Canada. The service is marketed as globally available across 150+ countries and territories, with Canada included in the active service footprint. <\/p>\n<p>Where availability issues arise, they are typically due to temporary local capacity constraints, obstructions due to trees, terrain, or building orientation, or weather\u2011related installation challenges. These are all easily solvable problems, at a cost far less than the <a href=\"https:\/\/mhgoldberg.com\/blog\/?p=16173\" target=\"_blank\">$10-20,000 (and more) per household<\/a> being spent for terrestrial solutions in some communities. Using LEO, we could (but shouldn&#8217;t) provide a permanent subsidy to equalize the prices paid by rural subscribers to those being paid in urban centres.<\/p>\n<p>We need to think carefully about subsidies for rural broadband broadband expansion. <\/p>\n<p>I have written <a href=\"https:\/\/mhgoldberg.com\/blog\/?s=affordability\" target=\"_blank\">extensively on issues of affordability<\/a>. I think subsidies <a href=\"https:\/\/mhgoldberg.com\/blog\/?p=17329\" target=\"_blank\">should be based on financial need<\/a>, not based on geography. There are people in urban centres who need lower cost everything, and people in rural and remote communities who do not need financial aid. For example, a little over a year ago, <a href=\"https:\/\/mhgoldberg.com\/blog\/?p=18906\" target=\"_blank\">I observed<\/a> &#8220;Median household incomes in the north are considerably higher than in the rest of Canada.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Canada\u2019s broadband strategy is reaching the point where the remaining unserved households are no longer an engineering challenge, but one of adoption. LEO solutions provide full national orbital coverage and can close the final connectivity gap quickly, affordably, and sustainably. One might say that we have walked the last mile of last mile connectivity.<\/p>\n<p>The challenge now is integrating LEO into regulatory and policy frameworks, to preserve private sector investment incentives, while engaging partnerships with social service agencies and training facilities to ensure no Canadian household is left offline.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Canada\u2019s broadband ambition has been defined as having high-speed (50\/10) connectivity available to all Canadians by the year 2030. I wonder if it may be time to declare victory. Various broadband funding programs (Universal Broadband Fund &#8211; UBF, Connect to Innovate, provincial initiatives, the CRTC\u2019s Broadband Fund, etc.) have collectively pushed high\u2011speed connectivity deeper into &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/mhgoldberg.com\/blog\/?p=19768\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Completing our broadband ambition<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","two_page_speed":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Completing our broadband ambition &#8226; Telecom Trends<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Canada\u2019s broadband ambition has been defined as having high-speed (50\/10) connectivity available to all Canadians by the year 2030. 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