SaskTel continues to expand 5G coverage to rural communities and highway corridors across Saskatchewan

January 17, 2024

Today, SaskTel announced it recently launched 5G on over 40 additional cell sites serving rural communities and highway corridors across the province. This latest expansion is part of SaskTel's ongoing initiative to deliver next-generation and hyper-fast wireless connectivity to residents and businesses throughout Saskatchewan. See the table below for a full list of communities and areas that have recently been upgraded to SaskTel 5G service.

"Our government understands that advanced communication technologies and networks are an important catalyst for economic growth and improved quality of life for all Saskatchewan residents," said Dustin Duncan, Minister Responsible for SaskTel. "I am pleased with SaskTel's work to bring the next-generation of wireless connectivity to the people of our province, including those living in rural and remote areas."

Currently, SaskTel's 5G network can deliver data speeds of up to 1.2 Gigabits per second (Gbps), and as it matures the network will provide significantly faster speeds. Other future benefits of 5G will include massive network capacity and ultra-low latency, all of which will enable new use cases for emerging wireless technologies that will be the foundation that next-generation innovations will be built upon.

"Since 2021, our team has worked tirelessly to bring the incredible speed and power of 5G technology to our customers across Saskatchewan," said Charlene Gavel, SaskTel President and CEO. "To date, we have successfully upgraded more than 400 cell sites to 5G technology and now offer 5G wireless service in over 100 communities and along large sections of major highway corridors, including much of Highway 1, 11, and 16."

SaskTel's rollout of 5G will revolutionize connectivity across the province, especially in rural areas. Delivering incredible data speeds, 5G will help bridge the digital divide by providing residents with the capability to connect to the world faster than ever before. 5G will also support technological advancements in remote healthcare, online learning, agriculture, transportation, as well as other services and industries that are important to the economic prosperity and overall quality of life in rural Saskatchewan.

The continued expansion of its 5G and fibre networks are a direct result of SaskTel's commitment to invest more than $1.6 billion of capital across Saskatchewan over the next five years.

In order to connect to its 5G network, SaskTel customers need to be within a 5G coverage area, have a 5G capable device that is certified for use on the SaskTel 5G network, and subscribe to a 5G compatible wireless plan.

For more information about SaskTel's 5G network, visit www.sasktel.com/5g.

About SaskTel

SaskTel is the leading Information and Communications Technology (ICT) provider in Saskatchewan, with approximately $1.3 billion in annual revenue and nearly 1.4 million customer connections including more than 654,000 wireless accesses, 257,000 wireline network accesses, 295,000 internet and data accesses, 111,000 maxTV service subscribers, and 77,000 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.