Today SaskTel announced residents of Abernethy, Alameda, Arborfield, Avonlea, Bethune, Bredenbury, B-Say-Tah, Burstall, Canwood, Central Butte, Colonsay, Dinsmore, Glaslyn, Grand Coulee, Hepburn, Hodgeville, Imperial, Leask, Lemberg, Leroy, Lipton, Manor, Marshall, Meota, Morse, Mossbank, Neilburg, Neudorf, Norquay, Pelly, Pense, Perdue, Pike Lake, Pinehouse, Rose Valley, Rouleau, Saltcoats, Saint Louis, Star City, Stockholm, Theodore, Vanscoy, Vibank, Wapella, White Fox, Willow Bunch, and Yellow Grass will now be able to upgrade to enjoy the benefits of an even faster High Speed Internet service with the launch of SaskTel High Speed Advanced, that gives speeds of up to 10 Mbps download.

“Our government recognizes rural Saskatchewan needs access to High Speed Internet,” said Kevin Doherty, Minister Responsible for SaskTel.  “The world is becoming increasingly connected and this expansion will benefit both private customers using the Internet for home entertainment and business customers working from their home community.”

This expansion is part of the long-term strategy to increase access to High Speed Internet in rural Saskatchewan that was introduced at the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities 2013 annual conference.   SaskTel’s Rural Strategy includes upgrading speeds to 10 Mbps download in over 220 existing DSL communities, in addition to expanding SaskTel High Speed Basic with speeds of up to 5 Mbps to 50 additional communities.  SaskTel provides DSL Internet access to over 400 communities and First Nations in Saskatchewan.

SaskTel High Speed Internet provides a superior user experience with unlimited Internet access and downloading, faster speeds, spam and email virus filtering, around-the-clock helpdesk support and installations – all for one low price.

For more information or to upgrade to SaskTel High Speed Advanced, customers can visit any SaskTel Authorized Dealer or SaskTel Store, visit our web site at www.sasktel.com, or call 1-800-SASKTEL (1-800-727-5835).

About SaskTel

Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corporation (SaskTel) is the leading full service communications provider in Saskatchewan, with $1.2 billion in annual revenue and over 1.4 million customer connections including over 607,000 wireless accesses, 492,000 wireline network accesses, 250,000 internet accesses and 100,000 maxTV subscribers.  SaskTel offers a wide range of communications products and services including competitive voice, data, internet, entertainment, security monitoring, messaging, cellular, wireless data and directory services. In addition, SaskTel International offers software solutions and project consulting in countries around the world.  SaskTel and its wholly-owned subsidiaries have a workforce of approximately 4,000 full-time equivalent employees (FTEs). Visit SaskTel at www.sasktel.com.

For media inquiries only, please contact:

Michelle Englot, SaskTel Director of External Communications

Phone: (306) 777-4476  E-mail: michelle.englot@sasktel.com