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Satellite Glitch Leaves Northern Canada In the (Internet) Dark

Posted by timothy on from the back-to-gold-oil-and-moose dept.

zentigger writes "At approximately 06:36 EDT Thursday, October 6, 2011, the Anik F2 satellite experienced an attitude control issue and lost earth lock, affecting C, Ku and Ka services. The satellite went into safety mode and moved from pointing to the earth to pointing to the sun. This has put most of Northern Canada in the dark as all internet and phone services come in over F2."

15 of 282 comments (clear)

  1. Don't worry, they're Canadians by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    So they will politely and patiently wait out the problem.

    1. Re:Don't worry, they're Canadians by davester666 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Why is the default position for the satellite to provide internet acces to the sun?

      --
      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
    2. Re:Don't worry, they're Canadians by grcumb · · Score: 3, Interesting

      They're probably only 10 people, anyway.

      I was one of the '10' the last time this happened.

      I was living in Iqaluit at the time, but was actually in flight to Pond Inlet at the northern tip of Baffin Island when the outage occurred. It was a very bizarre feeling to arrive in one of the most remote communities in the world and find I'd stepped back in time by a century.

      Telephone, TV, and most other means of communications simply stopped. But people in the Arctic are adaptable. They don't last long if they aren't. Emergency communications were hopped from airport-to-pilot-to-ground from the hamlet (It's a LONG way from any other habitation). We hunkered down, and yes, politely waited for news.

      As the wikipedia link indicates, we waited for days while the local telco flew technicians across the territory to reposition their dishes and get services running.

      It was the experience of living in a remote location - close to the technological edge, as it were - that led me to drop what I was doing a few years later and leave for the South Pacific, where I live today. (Also: When I left Iqaluit, I promised myself I'd never be cold again.) I live in a country with only satellite service, and have worked for the last 8 years helping to improve communications here.

      (Not so) amusingly, about a year and a half after I arrived, the satellite providing service to our region suffered catastrophic failure. I was able to use my experience in the Arctic to help convince people here of the dangers of relying on a single source of data communications. We should be getting a submarine cable in 2012-13, and once that happens, I just might be able to rely on Internet again.

      --
      Crumb's Corollary: Never bring a knife to a bun fight.
  2. Get an academic on this pronto by Iamthecheese · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This is the perfect chance to find out the real cost of a first world nation not having internet access. We need these numbers to make better laws about internet access restriction and even to decide whether it should be a right.

    --
    If video games influenced behavior the Pac Man generation would be eating pills and running away from their problems.
    1. Re:Get an academic on this pronto by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      Northern Canada is not really a first-world region. It's mostly empty, frozen land and remote communities of native people living pretty basic lifestyles. Not much in common with the cities in the South.

    2. Re:Get an academic on this pronto by roman_mir · · Score: 3, Insightful

      A right?

      I don't think you know what that word is.

      There are only individual rights. The 'civil or labor rights' are actually entitlements given by government decree to some, while imposing obligations on others. Same with anything else that you have to be provided by somebody. It's an entitlement, not a right.

      I had this same discussion a number of times, why do people never seem to understand basic concepts?

      http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2450838&cid=37575982
      http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2450838&cid=37554214
      http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2450838&cid=37558726
      http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2450838&cid=37558814
      http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2450838&cid=37558814
      http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2450838&cid=37556278
      http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2450838&cid=37553622

      'Right' is a concept that is only meaningful to describe a relationship between an individual an government, because gov't is a system, not an individual.

      Relationships between private individuals and businesses are covered by criminal and contract law.

      Having a 'right' to Internet would require this to be an obligation upon businesses that would have to provide this entitlement, obviously this would make it into an 'essential' service and the prices, by the way, would immediately be much higher than what they are now.

      See health care, insurance, education and AT&T monopoly that was given to it by government, which destroyed 4000 competitors for a good example of how that shit works.

      --
      You can't handle the truth.
  3. Re:How 1960s by bugs2squash · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yes, just tie it to the back of white fang, say mush, and watch the spool unreel.

    --
    Nullius in verba
  4. Meanwhile by otaku244 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Residents on the Sun say their reception has gone up 100%

    --
    Mod me down, I shall become more off-topic than you could possibly imagine.
  5. Re:Is the internet in Canada 100% satellite? by LikwidCirkel · · Score: 3, Informative

    This only effects remote northern communities where fiber is unfeasible. It's around 60% of the area and much less than 1% of the population.

  6. Northern Canada != Canada by mclearn · · Score: 5, Informative

    Remember, Canada is a big place. 75% of all Canadians live within 90 miles of the US border. So keep this in mind while you read all of the comments saying what a calamity this is for Canadians. Northern Canada -- and I say this as a Canadian, though some may disagree (like we disagree about what it means to be in Eastern Canada or Western Canada) -- generally are those who live above 55-60 degrees N which is an exceptionally small percentage of the total population.

  7. WOW bad headling and BAD summary by BagOBones · · Score: 4, Informative

    Should probably read....
    Remote communities in Canada's far north without internet.

    Any major populated area connected by land line will not be impacted... In fact I would argue that nothing larger than a "Town" is likely impacted impacted.

    --
    EA David Gardner -"... but the consumers have proven that actually what they want is fun."
  8. Rogue Satellite by davegravy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Anik F2 satellite experienced an attitude control issue

    Great, so now we have self-aware machines with personality disorders orbiting us? Who's gonna capitalize on the budding satellite anger-management industry?

  9. Re:How 1960s by Hatta · · Score: 4, Funny

    Won't work. Hikers in the Canadian wilderness have long carried a piece of fiber optic cable with them. If they get lost, they just bury the cable and hitch a ride back when the backhoe comes to dig it up.

    --
    Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
  10. Re:Oh goodie! by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 4, Funny

    Sticks and stones may break our bones, but our health care at least is free!

    --

    "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

  11. Northwestel data map by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 3, Informative

    http://www.nwtel.ca/media/images/operating_map_full.jpg