2010 news releases

SaskTel to invest $22 million in Next Generation Access Infrastructure

Max Entertainment Services expanding to more communities plus higher internet speeds

REGINA, February 3, 2010 – SaskTel today announced it will make a capital investment of $22 million to expand the Next Generation Access Infrastructure program (NGAI) to 14 more communities over the next two years. The project will expand Max™ Entertainment Services and offer higher internet speeds to those communities by the end of 2011. In addition, SaskTel will expand Max to Pilot Butte on February 10, 2010.

The tentative schedule is to expand Max to 6 communities in 2010 (Humboldt, Lloydminster, Martensville, Melfort, Melville, Warman) and 8 communities in 2011 (Canora, Esterhazy, Kamsack, Kindersley, Meadow Lake, Nipawin, Rosetown,Tisdale). 

The expansion will also allow SaskTel to offer higher speed internet options in those communities with the launch of High Speed Internet Extreme (up to 10 Mbps download speeds) as well as High Speed Internet Ultra (up to 25 Mbps download speeds).

“SaskTel’s network is a vital component of Saskatchewan’s infrastructure,” Minister responsible for SaskTel Don Morgan said. “This strategic investment will deliver greater bandwidth and consumer choice to residents in the expansion communities.”

“Max has been a big hit with our customers and we’re pleased to respond to consumer demand in these new locations,” SaskTel President and CEO Robert Watson said. “Residents of the Max expansion locations will now have the option of bundling a full range of SaskTel services for greater savings, including TV, internet, home phone, wireless and SecurTek security monitoring.”
 
About SaskTel
Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corporation (SaskTel) is the leading full service communications provider in Saskatchewan, with $1.138 billion in annual revenue and over 1.3 million customer connections including over 510,000 wireless accesses, 555,000 wireline network accesses, 216,000 internet accesses and 76,000 Max™ (TV) subscribers.  SaskTel offers a wide range of communications products and services including competitive voice, data, internet, entertainment, national security, messaging, cellular, wireless data and directory services. In addition, SaskTel International offers software solutions and project consulting in countries around the world.  In 2008, SaskTel contributed over $610 million to the Saskatchewan economy through dollars spent with Saskatchewan-based suppliers and sponsorships to non-profit organizations.  SaskTel and its wholly-owned subsidiaries have a workforce of approximately 5,000 employees.

For more media inquiries only, please contact:

SaskTel
Andy Tate, SaskTel Media Relations
Phone: (306) 777-4548
E-mail: andy.tate@sasktel.sk.ca