SaskTel wrapping up first phase of its $100 million Rural Fibre Initiative

July 13, 2022

Today, SaskTel announced that the first phase of its $100 million Rural Fibre Initiative is over 95% complete. As a result of this initiative, the vast majority of households and businesses in the communities of Balgonie, Biggar, Langham, and Pilot Butte can now connect to SaskTel infiNET™ service. Delivering extremely fast internet speeds, infiNET service allows SaskTel customers to take advantage of the latest digital tools and technologies to socialize, learn, access healthcare and government services, and pursue business opportunities online.

“The Government of Saskatchewan recognizes how critical broadband has become to the success of our people, our communities, and the province as a whole,” said Don Morgan, Minister Responsible for SaskTel. “Thanks to SaskTel’s Rural Fibre Initiative, thousands of families and businesses will soon gain access to cutting edge broadband infrastructure that will allow them to connect to the world like never before and ensure that hometowns across the province continue to thrive and grow.”

“We’re committed to delivering the high quality and reliable communications services our customers need to compete and succeed in the modern world” said Doug Burnett, SaskTel President and CEO. “Already the largest fibre optic broadband network in the province, our infiNET service will grow to reach over 60 communities by the end of 2023.”

Powered by SaskTel’s fibre optic broadband network, infiNET service delivers internet speeds reaching close to a Gigabit per second (Gbps), allowing subscribers to surf, stream, and share however much content they want at incredible speeds. Plus, the infiNET network has the capacity to grow to support the evolving needs of SaskTel’s customers and increasing popularity of cloud services, video streaming, and smart technologies.

Originally announced in 2020, the Rural Fibre Initiative is a multi-phase program that will see SaskTel invest $100 million to bring infiNET service to over 60,000 residents and businesses spread across 45 rural communities by the end of 2023.

The communities to receive infiNET service as part of the Rural Fibre Initiative include:

• Phase 1 – Balgonie, Biggar, Langham and Pilot Butte. Construction is over 95% complete.
• Phase 2 – Kindersley, Meadow Lake, and Rosetown. Construction has already started in Kindersley and will soon begin in Meadow Lake, and Rosetown.
• Phase 3 – Canora, Carlyle, Esterhazy, Fort Qu’Appelle, Hudson Bay, Indian Head, Kamsack, La Ronge, Lumsden, Maple Creek, Moosomin, Shaunavon, Watrous, and Wynyard. SaskTel plans to begin construction in a number of these communities in 2022.
• Phase 4 – Assiniboia, Buffalo Narrows, Caronport, Carrot River, Dalmeny, Davidson, Dundurn, Foam Lake, Gravelbourg, Gull Lake, Île-à-la-Crosse, Kipling, La Loche, Lanigan, Macklin, Osler, Outlook, Oxbow, Preeceville, Regina Beach (including Buena Vista and Kinookimaw), Rocanville, Shellbrook, Unity, and Wadena. SaskTel plans to begin construction in these communities in 2023.

The Rural Fibre Initiative is part of SaskTel’s larger commitment to invest over $1.5 billion of capital throughout Saskatchewan over the next five years. These investments will ensure Saskatchewan families and businesses continue to have access to some of the best communication and entertainment services available anywhere in the world.

For more information about infiNET service, please visit www.sasktel.com/infinet.

About SaskTel

SaskTel is the leading Information and Communications Technology (ICT) provider in Saskatchewan, with approximately $1.3 billion in annual revenue and over 1.4 million customer connections including more than 647,000 wireless accesses, 273,000 wireline network accesses, 293,000 internet and data accesses, 110,000 maxTV service subscribers, and 78,000 security monitoring customers. SaskTel and its wholly-owned subsidiaries offer a wide range of ICT products and services including competitive voice, data and Internet services, wireless data services, maxTV services, data centre services, cloud-based services, security monitoring services, advertising services, and international software and consulting services. SaskTel and its wholly-owned subsidiaries have a workforce of approximately 3,300 full-time equivalent employees (FTEs). Visit SaskTel at www.sasktel.com.