By Anna Guy
Since its inception in 1998, Rigstar has connected people in remote locations with vital telecommunication services, empowering its clients with the ability to safely live and work across North America. Over the course of two decades, Rigstar has emerged as an industry-leading telecom service provider by delivering agnostic fibre, wireless, and hybrid communication systems with dynamic and service-oriented customer service.
Founded in Calgary, Alberta, Rigstar is a non-dominant carrier registered with the CRTC. With operations across Canada and offices in Texas, Rigstar is equipped to bring communication to industries with rural settings, such as transportation, mining, and oil and gas.
“Our expertise is bringing in networks to hard-to-reach areas that are either underserved or require additional bandwidth,” says Coralee Mazurek, COO. “A big phenomenon today is an increase in demand for high-speed broadband. We are acting to those needs by being able to bring in a combination of fibre and microwave solutions, and, where relevant, private LTE solutions.”
Rigstar stays in step with the evolution of telecommunication technology so its customers can rely on top-of-the-line service. It’s part of the reason Rigstar prides itself on an agnostic approach. “Because we’re a non-dominant carrier and we work with the partners we need to in the industry,” says Mazurek. “Our advantage is the ability to be nimble as far as being able to take something from a requirement to a full-blown solution by leveraging all of the great partners and our already literary partners as well.”
Rigstar is able to offer the most cost effective and the best solutions to its clients by using the hardware or vendors that will best build the right solutions based on what the customer needs.
“Whereas with some of the larger carriers it can take some time, I think the biggest challenge we’re able to help our customers with is to get funding and capital and resources and make a network expansion happen.”
The Rigstar team prides itself on fostering solid relationships with the leaders across the country in telecommunications. “There are geographic strings that everybody has,” says Mazurek. “We’re able to leverage all of those strings to bring (customers) all solid solutions.”
To demonstrate Rigstar’s capability, take the project currently underway in BC. Rigstar is bringing 670 kilometres of network and network services right into unmarked territories, onto mountain tops. “We’re connecting both the services in the construction stakeholders across the pipeline but we’re also able to start to help the communities in the area have access to solid broadband services in areas where it was really either no service at all or very, very basic satellite-type connections.”
Another example of Rigstar bringing communication in an urban environment lies in the town of Canmore, Alberta. Rigstar came to the town and installed a Wi-Fi system that exceeded the town’s expectations and negated the need to pay a yearly licensing fee. The system is designed to allow for future growth and can be managed through any smart device.
For Rigstar’s clients working in high-risk industries, full access to what works is critical for a myriad of reasons. Data, analytics, monitoring, being able to upload data to some of the more complex I B-M-S systems that are tracking those vehicles that require cellular data—none of this is available without a reliable telecom system.
Many of Rigstar’s projects require a positive working relationship and understanding with local Indigenous communities. “It is important for us to acknowledge the Indigenous residents, especially in Western Canada, who we work closely with,” says Muzurek. “Part of our community outreach is connecting remote Indigenous Communities with services that we are able to provide where there is need.”
Operating 24/7/365, Rigstar is truly “here for our customers all the time. We’re fully stocked around the clock to make sure that once we are able to implement our solutions, we’re able to fully support our clients and operate those networks from the onset of construction until the end of a project,” says Muzurek.
