Re: [Starlink] Starlink in Northern Europe: A New Look at Stationary and In-motion Performance

[Daniel AJ Sokolov <daniel@falco.ca>]

On 2025-02-27 at 21:22, Ulrich Speidel via Starlink wrote:
> Some time late last year, a lot of areas around the globe started 
> popping up as "sold out" on Starlink's availability. These areas have 
> since increased, especially in the Americas. For all I could tell, most 
> of these areas have the following in common: significant population 
> density and severe lack of terrestrial broadband infrastructure.

In Whitehorse itself it is mostly a question of price. We have broadband 
over coaxial cable, up to 750 MBit/s down and 35 MBit/s up. But it is 
not cheap.

Residential Starlink is CAD 140/month and includes a WiFi functionality.

The local ISP, Northwestel, enjoys a monopoly. In reaction to Starlink, 
they have lowered the price for the least expensive unlimited plan to 
CAD 135 (incl. a Wifi modem), but that is only 50/10 Mbit/s, and not 
available to businesses. Businesses have to pay at least CAD 300 for an 
unlimited plan (also 50/10).

So Starlink is simply cheaper, especially for businesses. If you have 
access to a roof. I look out the window and I see two Starlink units 
used residentially, right next to one another.

We also have 5G coverage, but again it is too expensive to replace a 
household's coaxial cable with all its data volume.

Having said that, there are areas outside the core of the city where you 
can not reasonably get terrestrial service (nor 5G). We have a housing 
crisis, so there are plenty of people living in tiny homes on wheels, 
yurts, wooden cabins without running water nor electricity, RVs, etc. 
Yes, even at -40° C/F. For them it, is Starlink, potentially powered by 
a solar pane and a generator for the Winter months.

If anyone is interested in our local prices, check
https://nwtel.ca/business/internet/business-internet-plans
https://nwtel.ca/internet-plans
after choosing "Whitehorse Central" is the Community.

Myself, I just use a 20/3 MBit/s line for CAD 80. I have my own Wifi 
device (Turris Omnia). However, should I exceed 300 GB in a month, 
overage fees would be onerous. at CAD 2/GByte.

I am sure this is not unlike many islands in Oceania. In many respects, 
Whitehorse is like an island.

Cheers
Daniel

PS: The Yukon's settlements outside Whitehorse have FTTH (all but the 
fly-in community of Old Crow). Prices are like Whitehorse, but they can 
get more symmetric bandwidth up to 750 MBit/s. Still some people use 
Starlink, again mostly for cost reasons. Also, the local ISP hasn't done 
a good job in endearing the locals to the company.