Rogers Satellite service launches in remote parts of Ontario after beta period

Rogers new satellite cell service will bring access to apps like Google Maps or WhatsApp to remote areas of Ontario. During a trial, Algonquin was the area with the highest usage.

Last Christmas, Meaghan Oosterhoof was driving from Ontario to her grandmother’s house in rural Manitoba, battling against snow and fading light.

Roughly an hour before she made it to her destination, she hit a key turn-off on her journey. Before navigating the final set of backroads without signs in the growing blizzard, she had to send a text.

“It’s -40, the van’s struggling to keep the heat. I’ve got my three little ones in the back with snow pants on, blankets on,” she said.

“The sun is setting, the snow is blowing, and I’m texting my family within the area.”

Oosterhoof told her relatives to give them an hour to make the last leg of the trip and, if they weren’t there by then, to go looking.

The final stretch of the journey is a complete cell service dead zone.

With that experience, as well as her work in the forestry sector, Oosterhoof signed up for a pilot during the summer run by Rogers. The telecom giant was launching a satellite service, offering some coverage in areas where there had never been any before.

It meant Oosterhoof could stay in touch with her family when she went on work trips to remote parts of Ontario’s forest network or stay in contact in highway dead zones.