Amid the trade war with the U.S. Trump administration, the Quebec government has signed a deal with Elon Musk-owned Starlink to connect rural courthouses to the internet.
In a report in the Montreal Gazette, Quebec Justice Department spokesperson Cathy Chenard said, “There is currently no satisfactory alternative equivalent to Starlink technology that can meet the needs of the Circuit Court while also providing sufficient performance.”
That said, the court department is looking into alternatives, but I’d expect that they won’t find something for the same price/performance ratio as Starlink.
The Starlink deal isn’t directly with Starlink like Ontario’s; instead, it started through a third-party installer in Alberta. This deal costs $826,000, and the Alberta company will install the satellite receivers at the Quebec locations.
This isn’t as big as Ontario’s $100 million deal, but $800,000 is nothing to scoff at. Many other smaller/remote Canadian businesses need to rely on Starlink for their internet as well since alternatives are slow and still expensive.
Source: Montreal Gazette
MobileSyrup may earn a commission from purchases made via our links, which helps fund the journalism we provide free on our website. These links do not influence our editorial content. Support us here.
