The New Brunswick-based specialist in serving remote communities is the only qualified competitor to Elon Musk’s space company in a provincial procurement of satellite internet service. Ontario calls its request for proposals—to serve 43,000 homes and businesses that can’t feasibly get land-based internet service—the first of its kind in the country. (The Logic)

Talking point: Xplore expects to offer speedier internet through Jupiter 3, a newly launched satellite from SpaceX competitor Hughes. At the same time, Bloomberg reported that Xplore is looking to borrow around US$400 million in a deal with Stonepeak Partners—the U.S.-based private equity firm that bought the company formerly called Xplornet for US$2 billion in 2020. S&P downgraded Xplore’s debts (to the CCC range, indicating medium-term defaults are a serious threat) last May; Moody’s already considered Xplore’s credit risky, but gave the company a negative outlook in June.