SaskTel spending another $50 million on rural fibre optic broadband

Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. (SaskTel) is throwing another $50 million into its Rural Fibre Initiative, doubling its total spending for the next few years. The crown corporation announced the extra $50 million Friday, which sits on top of another $50 million announced in December. SaskTel said this will allow it to bring fibre optic broadband to 24 additional communities in rural Saskatchewan by the end of 2023. “Expanding access to leading-edge broadband technology is critical in preparing Saskatchewan for its future,” said Don Morgan, the provincial minister responsible for SaskTel in the announcement. “This major investment by SaskTel will help set the stage for Saskatchewan’s future and ensure that our province is ready for the post-COVID world with the most advanced communications infrastructure available.” SaskTel said in its release the Rural Fibre Initiative is “a multi-phase program” that will bring its “infiNET” service, which it said delivers speeds reaching up to 300 Mbps, to over 40 rural Saskatchewan communities by the end of 2023. The company said Friday construction has already begun in the communities of Balgonie, Biggar, Langham, and Pilot Butte as all are part of phase one. The majority of homes and businesses in each community are expected to be fibre-ready by the end of March 2022. Construction will start in Kindersley, Meadow Lake, and Rosetown later this year, kicking off phase two, SaskTel said. Phase three involves construction starting in about a dozen other communities in 2022, while phase four comprises the 24 additional communities announced Friday. By the end of the project, SaskTel said it estimates approximately 75 per cent of the province will have access to its fibre optic broadband network. The company also said it wants to “begin investigating partnership opportunities that would enable it to connect more communities beyond those included in the Rural Fibre Initiative.” The project is part of its plan to spend over $1.6 billion in capital across Saskatchewan through 2025, it said in its December announcement.

SaskTel spending another $50 million on rural fibre optic broadband

Brief | June 25, 2021

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SaskTel spending another $50 million on rural fibre optic broadband

Brief | June 25, 2021

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