New high-speed network coming to Nunavut Arctic College
Rollout to start in 5 communities, with expansion across territory by end of next year
A new partnership between Nunavut Arctic College and Galaxy Broadband Communications will see the college get a new high-speed internet starting in five communities by this fall. (File photo by Emma Tranter)
Nunavut Arctic College students and staff in some communities will have access to high-speed internet for the start of the next school year.
This development comes thanks to a 10-year partnership between the college and Galaxy Broadband Communications, the college announced earlier this month.
Galaxy recently expanded its operations in Nunavut under the name InukNET. The company uses low Earth orbit satellites to deliver high-speed internet to businesses and organizations across the territory.
“The service that we are getting is exciting,” said Jennifer Lane, who oversees the IT operations for the college.
She said its former network has proven to be slow over the past three years and has been “unusable” for online learning. But all of that will change with the new network.
“Students and staff won’t have barriers around accessing online learning technologies, streaming platforms, using video teaching technologies, Zoom teams, things like that which traditionally we all experience across the board as being very slow [with] not good picture or sound quality,” Lane said.
In fact, she expects internet service to be comparable to what people have access to in the south. She estimates a baseline download speed of 150Mbps and a baseline upload speed of 30Mbps.
The new network is currently being installed in five communities: Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet, Arviat, Cambridge Bay and Clyde River.
“We picked those locations because the most research and education right now happens within those five communities,” Lane said.
In return as part of the 10-year partnership, Nunavut Arctic College will allow access to its facilities so Galaxy Broadband can potentially extend its service beyond the college and into the communities.
An install process typically takes anywhere from two to three weeks, which should have the network up and running in the five communities before the new school year begins in the fall.
The network will be installed in the Nunavut Arctic College facilities in the territory’s remaining 20 communities by the end of next year, Lane said.
Those hamlets will remain on the old network for now, but with five communities jumping onto the new network it should alleviate some of the burden on the old network in those communities, Lane said.
The new network is funded by the federal government and the college. Lane did not divulge the cost but said students should not see any increases to their student fees for the partnership.
Having access to reliable high-speed internet in Nunavut is a “critical service,” Lane said, not a “nice-to-have.”
“We live in a day and age where almost everything operates with technology that accesses WiFi, or accesses some sort of data or internet capability,” she said.
“I feel like it’s a disservice to our residents within the territory to not provide a level of internet that actually matches the level of innovation happening within the world right now, because it sets us behind.”
Before colonialism we had the fastest internet in the world.
ii… aksu, before colonization we were hitting 1,000Mbps. When Europeans arrived that was cut in half.
Hey Nunatsiaq, why do you agree to post trolls? It’s so ick. It’s not constructive or relevant, maybe you guys need a new admin? Leave the crazies to Facebook.
Thank you.
Tried galaxy at the mines,always slow when a couple people go on it,
Now I tried starlink and am really impressed about how fast it is . A game changer
Yea but Galaxy is ‘InUiT oWnEd’
We’ll gladly pay twice as much for half the service.
We’ll make our rich buddy richer, but at least he’s not your rich buddy ? lol
The real question is which has the greater net benefit for Nunavummuit?
Having the money go to a local person, thus remaining in the ‘local’ economy in some sense? Subsidized at the cost of slower, more expensive service to our students?
Could there be more net benefit in giving our students the best access to the web we can?
Not me , why pay more for less ? That’s giving yourself a nunavut government mentality a waste of tax dollars at its best ….only in Nunavut….LOL
Elon musk is laughing.
Why not just use starlink? Why is all government offices not on starlink yet?
Identity politic… err, identity economics
Money would stop circulating in the government sector if they use none government funded internet if they used Starlink.
Government funds don’t exist inside a closed system, there are endless injections of billions from those outsiders we love to complain about.
NAC will use Star Link.
Galaxy will be a middle-person for access to Star Link.
Is Starlink working better now? I know When they rolled it out it wouldn’t work for me b/c my apartment faces the wrong direction. Or so I was told anyway.
What ever happened to the fiber optic line that the government spent millions to fund ?
Resolute bay polar continental shelf building was perpaired by the military in 2012 for the fiberoptic .
Last couple of years local government buildings are all set up for fiber ..
Has anyone heard anything about the fiber cable that is supposed to connect all of the communities in nunavut?
Why do we do this? I know it’s nice to “shop local” but why handicap the potential users who are using it for hopefully educational purposes or furthering education. Starlink is faster, cheaper and frankly in most communities already proven out. It’s nearly just plug and play with minimal trouble shooting required which is excellent because even communities that had techs for past services, you could never get a ticket closed. A tech never actually came by on a timely basis.
Why not just use what works and offered better performance. I don’t get it. All in the name of shop local I suppose when the reality is that it’s just another venture where the southern partner will take the majority.
Use DSL old school
“Students and staff won’t have barriers around accessing online learning technologies, streaming platforms, using video teaching technologies, Zoom teams, things like that which traditionally we all experience across the board as being very slow [with] not good picture or sound quality,” Lane said.”
SO MUCH fluff; makes one want to huff (ones cookies)
They’re installing it now in arviat Nac. Logo says “connected by Oneweb” and “galaxyboard”
its working really well for college right now if you see their website its non-existent:
https://www.arcticcollege.com/
Thanks for pointing this out, unbelievable. Arctic College web page has been a complete mess for months, if not longer. It has been nearly impossible to retrieve any useful information; academic calendars, course descriptions, applications. And now here we are, a total dead link. The institution is a disgrace.