This summer, wildfires cut off internet access just when evacuating NWT communities needed it most – unless you had a special dish by your side.
When Hay River’s mayor held a news conference from her evacuated town on August 15, at the height of the territory’s recent wildfire crisis, she told reporters there was “no way” to contact remaining residents if the threat increased.
By that time, regular internet and phone services in Hay River had been down for days. Wildfires had damaged the infrastructure and there was no safe way for technicians to get to it.
Mayor Kandis Jameson was only able to hold a news conference at all because she had access to a Starlink satellite.
Less than a year has passed since Starlink became widely available in the Northwest Territories, but the service – operated by billionaire Elon Musk’s firm,…
