Reliable Year-Round Sustainable Arctic Agriculture Powered by Peplink and Starlink
In one of the most remote regions of Canada, Project Naurvik sets out to demonstrate that sustainable, year-round food production is possible in the Arctic. Located in Gjoa Haven, Nunavut, a community inside the Arctic Circle known for its connectivity deserts, the project aims to retrofit shipping containers into controlled growing environments that could operate in extreme cold and isolation. With the help of iTel Networks through a Shared Services Canada opportunity, the Naurvik team adopted a Peplink and Starlink solution to enable Canada’s first year-round agriculture initiative in the North.
Challenge
Operating in the remote Arctic region with no existing internet infrastructure, Project Naurvik required a connectivity solution capable of supporting continuous agricultural operations in an extremely harsh environment. The previous reliance on GEO satellite introduced significant limitations, including high latency and insufficient bandwidth, which hindered real-time monitoring and live data transmission.
Beyond simply providing internet access, the new solution needed to overcome previous limitations by supporting stable communication with government and research teams, reliable data collection from environmental sensors, and operation without reliance on grid power. It also had to be fail-safe, easy to deploy, and rugged enough to function reliably in sub-zero temperatures and high winds, while running entirely on solar or wind energy.
Solution
The Naurvik team turned to iTel Networks for a reliable network solution. To deliver high-performance connectivity in the remote Canadian Arctic, iTel Networks housed Peplink’s BR2 Pro as the core of their portable all-in-one unit, the patented iLink solution. Starlink is also fully integrated into the solution to bond with the BR2 Pro’s dual 5G connections for ensured redundancy and maximum uptime.
The deployment included two iLink units containing the Peplink devices — one installed on a fixed pole for stationary use, and the other placed in a portable backpack for mobile, off-grid operations. Both were purpose-built to operate dependably and withstand the physical challenges of the harsh Arctic environment.
Result
The Naurvik team made a seamless switch from slow GEO satellite service to high-speed connectivity, enabling real-time video conferencing and data sharing—all within a single day, with bonded speeds reaching up to 1 Gbps.
The stable, high-capacity network also allowed for remote monitoring, environmental sensor data collection, and seamless collaboration with national research teams. InControl 2 further supported the deployment by providing federal technical teams with secure, read-only access to live network performance, ensuring transparency and uninterrupted operations throughout Canada’s first year-round Arctic agriculture initiative.
Deployment
- Deployed at a remote Arctic site with dual 5G connectivity
- Paired with Starlink for SpeedFusion bonding or seamless failover
- Monitored through InControl 2 for metrics reports shared with technical teams
