Here's why some cellular IoT products don't work in Saskatchewan
If you're from Saskatchewan and have ever been on the market for a cellular connected sensor, such as a freeze alarm, you may have seen a note along the lines of, "this product does not work in Saskatchewan". This is undeniably confusing, as Saskatchewan has very robust cellular coverage across a very rural province, including widespread 5G and it's own crown telecom, SaskTel. The reason? Saskatchewan's unique telecom setup, and a lack of broad support for a special IoT variant of LTE, LTE Cat-M1.
As a Saskatchewan-based IoT company, CabinPulse is dedicated to building solutions for the people in the province we call home. When we first started developing CabinPulse, we did so using a common IoT technology called LTE Cat-M1. This widely supported variant of LTE is very well suited to connected devices because it's very low power and its coverage can penetrate deeper than traditional LTE. It also has near universal coverage in Canada and the United States; everywhere there's LTE, there's LTE Cat-M1.
Except, as it turns out, in Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan's Telecom Landscape
Saskatchewan is unique in that it only has two telecoms that maintain a significant number of towers in the province - SaskTel and Rogers. Other carriers like Telus or Bell simply use SaskTel's coverage via reciprocal roaming agreements.
SaskTel's coverage is impressive; viewing a national coverage map shows the huge area covered compared to more populated provinces. Rogers is much more limited, largely covering major highways and the province's two major cities.
Coverage in rural areas near lakes and most cabins is exclusively SaskTel.
Unfortunately, while SaskTel is a leader in coverage, it lags far behind near every other telecom in Canada and the US in its support of LTE Cat-M1. This means that in many places without Rogers coverage (whose towers in Saskatchewan do support LTE-M), LTE Cat-M1 devices simply do not work. Wakaw Lake - a popular cabin destination just 45 minutes from Saskatoon - does not have reliable LTE Cat-M1 coverage.
Cellular temperature monitors like MarCELL do not work in Saskatchewan because they use LTE Cat-M1 for connectivity.
How CabinPulse Works in Saskatchewan
Though our initial devices were based on LTE Cat-M1 technology, we quickly shifted to meet the needs of our Saskatchewan customers. As a Saskatchewan company, we're proud to build the only consumer cellular temperature monitor officially supported across Saskatchewan.
Our latest version of CabinPulse works with regular LTE (Cat-1) and falls back to 3G when LTE isn't available. This means CabinPulse can take advantage of SaskTel's massive coverage area; it works everywhere there's any sort of LTE or 3G cell coverage in Saskatchewan, on SaskTel or Rogers.
In the rest of Canada, CabinPulse automatically selects the best network, too - whether that's Bell, Telus or Rogers.
Looking Forward for IoT in Saskatchewan
SaskTel's LTE Cat-M1 footprint is growing every day, but so are other technologies including satellite or NTN communication. We're already starting to work with these technologies to ensure reliable and accessible connected sensors across Saskatchewan, Canada and the rest of the world.
Do you have an IoT need in Saskatchewan? We're always happy to chat or partner with you on your next big project.
