Mage Networks has commenced the building of data pipelines as part of its effort to deliver affordable high-quality internet to the residents of West Bragg Creek community. The buildout is estimated to last the whole of September.
Over the years, the residents of West Bragg Creek have lived without high-quality internet service due to the mountainous, forested terrain of the region. This development gives access to affordable internet service powered by Mage.
While appreciating residents who waited for long to get connected to the Mage internet service, the President and CEO, Mage Networks, Dr. Sayed-Amr El-Hamamsy stated that after a long wait time, Fortis has completed its work on the much-needed power poles, and we can now fulfill our commitment to deliver affordable high quality to the West Bragg community.
According the CEO, “We are also working on installing houses and areas closer to the data pipeline as we build it. This means that people closest to the data pipelines can get service early.” El-Hamamsy added.
Mage is designed to deliver internet to the hardest-to-reach areas, where traditional top-down telecom models do not work. After completion of the buildout, residents of West Bragg Creek will get the best quality connection, regardless of their location in the network.
Mage provides services in Long Plain First Nation in Manitoba, Bragg Creek, Foremost and Redwood Meadows in Alberta and Rural Milton in Ontario and is expanding internationally.
On March 23, sky observers marveled at a gorgeous display of northern and southern lights. It was a reminder that when our Sun gets active, it can spark a phenomenon called “space weather.” Aurorae are among the most benign effects of this phenomenon.
At the other end of the space weather spectrum are solar storms that can knock out satellites. The folks at Starlink found that out the hard way in February 2022. On Jan. 29 that year, the Sun belched out a class M 1.1 flare and related coronal mass ejection. Material from the Sun traveled out on the solar wind and arrived at Earth a few days later. On Feb. 3, Starlink launched a group of 49 satellites to an altitude only 130 miles above Earth’s surface. They didn’t last long, and now solar physicists know why.
A group of researchers from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and the Catholic University of America took a closer look at the specifics of that storm. Their analysis identified a mass of plasma that impacted our planet’s magnetosphere. The actual event was a halo coronal mass ejection from an active region in the northeast quadrant of the Sun.
The material traveled out at around 690 kilometers per second as a shock-driving magnetic cloud. Think of it as a long ropy mass of material writhing its way through space. As it traveled, it expanded and at solar-facing satellites — including STEREO-A, which took a direct hit from it — made observations. Eventually, the cloud smacked into Earth’s magnetosphere creating a geomagnetic storm.
HOW STARLINK SATELLITES EXPERIENCED THE EFFECTS SPACE WEATHER
One of the side effects of space weather that can affect satellites is warming in a region called the “thermosphere.” That increased the density of the upper atmosphere over a short amount of time and caused it to swell up. A denser atmosphere causes a phenomenon called “atmospheric drag.” Essentially, the thicker atmosphere slows down anything moving through. It also heats things up.
The atmosphere thickened enough that it affected the newly launched Starlink stations. They started to experience atmospheric drag, which caused them to deorbit and burn up on the way down. It was an expensive lesson in space weather and provided people on Earth with a great view of what happens when satellites fall back to Earth. It was also that could have been avoided if they’d delayed their launch to account for the ongoing threat.
HOW DOES SPACE WEATHER WORK?
The Sun constantly sends a stream of charged particles called the solar wind. This stream varies in density, speed, and temperature. Occasionally, the Sun will also belch out clouds of plasma in what’s called a “coronal mass ejection.” Sometimes it also sends out solar flares. All the material it loses travels away on the solar wind.
During periods when the Sun is more active, those clouds of plasma can come pretty frequently. If they impact Earth, the results can vary from a pretty auroral display all the way to commercial satellite disruptions and power blackouts on the ground. The loss of the Starlink satellites was a particularly massive effect of space weather.
CURRENT SPACE WEATHER EFFECTS
At the moment, the Sun’s activity is increasing as it heads into a period called “solar maximum.” We can expect more auroral displays, along with CMEs and flares. With the strong outbursts come threats to our technology. Obviously, communications and other satellites are in danger. So are astronauts on the International Space Station.
But, the threats aren’t just in space. Earth-based power grids, communication lines, and other technologies are also at risk. For example, when a geomagnetic storm hits, it sets up huge circulating electrical currents between Earth and space. These are called “geomagnetically induced currents.” At the very least, they can short out power lines and grids. When those go down, so do the Internet, computer systems, telephone systems, and other crucial services. The average person would immediately experience a power outage, at the very least. But, airlines, banks, and other systems would be down until power and communications could be restored. There’s a great need to strengthen our technology against solar storms.
STARLINK LESSONS LEARNED?
The loss of the Starlink satellites cost the company millions of dollars. The company elected to launch, even though the space weather community warned about the effects of a geomagnetic storm. For years now, solar physicists have been warning about the effects of space weather. Most satellite companies pay attention to reports from such places as the Space Weather Prediction Center. If they get enough warning ahead of time, they can take steps to protect their equipment. Astronauts on the ISS can take shelter until the storm passes. And, power companies and others can follow forecasts of such storms so they can take whatever action is needed in the event of a strong event.
Solar physicists continue to study these solar outbursts in hopes of coming up with a foolproof prediction system. At the moment, when something erupts from the Sun, we get notifications from a fleet of satellites. Those give us minutes to hours of “heads-up” time to prepare for the worst. NASA and other agencies continue to improve solar studies and prediction methods so that companies launching satellites to low-Earth orbit can take steps to protect their investments.
As part of its commitment to provide the unconnected and under connected communities with access to reliable and high-speed internet, Mage Networks has announced that residents of Brookville and Campbellville areas of Rural Milton now have access to fast and reliable high-speed internet.
Much to the delight of residents of the rural and remote community, MagiNet solution provides 100 Mbps for both download or upload speed and unique Guaranteed Streaming Bandwidth™ with no limited data at the lowest possible cost.
Mage Networks is committed to connecting everyone everywhere. Dr. Sayed-Amr El-Hamamsy, President and CEO, stated, “Our MagiNet™ technology is ideally suited to meet the broadband needs and demands of the Halton Region”. According to El-Hamamsy, internet has become a part in our day-to-day lives, required for work, hospital, banking, school, shopping, entertainment, and staying connected with friends and family.
Dr. El-Hamamsy further noted that there are continuing plans to reach residents in Lowville, Carlyle and Kilbride in Spring and Summer of 2023. MagiNet™ is a hybrid combination of fiber and innovative wireless technology, which means that with multiple backhaul points and its novel network design, users experience the best quality connection, regardless of their location.
“At Mage, we constantly optimise our network to ensure that obstacles like tress, building or weathers do not impact the signal strength and customer continues to have access to fast, reliable high-speed internet.”
According to Dr. El-Hamamsy, “We believe that internet should be accessible no matter where you live, because we understand the hardship that lack of internet causes, and we knew we could solve the problem.”
The installation of the network has begun in the Brookville and Campbellville areas, so residents can immediately begin to sign up while residents in Lowville, Carlyle and Kilbride can look forward to connecting to the high-speed internet in the coming months.
Mage provides services in Long Plain First Nation in Manitoba, Bragg Creek, Foremost and Redwood Meadows in Alberta and Rural Milton in Ontario.