As we approach Mother’s Day 2020, SaskTel is again expecting that Saskatchewan residents will be busy contacting mom. While a personal visit is likely your mother’s first choice, in these times of self-isolating and physical distancing a virtual hug through a phone call, text message or video call may be all that is possible. Through all of this, SaskTel is committed to connecting people to their world, and their Moms, to make this happen.

“Now more than ever, families across the Province are finding creative solutions to spend time together. SaskTel’s services such as text and video calling will be some of the many popular ways people in Saskatchewan are reminding mom just how much they care, even if they have to be apart,” said Doug Burnett, SaskTel President and CEO.

SaskTel’s usage numbers have jumped across all lines of services since mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The most noticeable increase in recent weeks has been with SaskTel’s Wireless data. As of April 27th, 2020, traffic across SaskTel’s networks has increased as follows:

• Internet Services: SaskTel has experienced increases in provincial data traffic on our DSL and fibre optic networks of 16%
• Wireless Data Traffic: Across our Wireless LTE Network SaskTel has seen an increase in demand of 34%
• Fusion Data Traffic: Data usage on our Fusion Internet network has increased by 46%

“Mother’s Day has historically been one of busiest days of the year for SaskTel, with over 4 million text messages sent and over 5 million text messages received last year, and we expect to see new records set this year,” added Burnett.

SaskTel has a handful of tips to make sure you have an enjoyable “visit” with your mom:

• If you are doing a video call, ensure you have a bright spot where you will be clearly seen with minimal background noise.
• Find a comfortable spot and position your camera at eye level. Make sure mom can’t see your dirty laundry in the background!
• Video calling will use more data, so be sure to connect to Wi-Fi where available and safe to do so.

Staying in touch on Mother’s Day has never been easier with SaskTel. For more information on all the ways to stay connected through SaskTel, please visit www.sasktel.com.

About SaskTel

SaskTel is the leading Information and Communications Technology (ICT) provider in Saskatchewan, with over $1.2 billion in annual revenue and approximately 1.35 million customer connections including 618,000 wireless accesses, 308,000 wireline network accesses, 276,000 internet accesses and 111,000 maxTV™ subscribers. 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 whlly-owned subsidiaries have a workforce of approximately 3,600 full-time equivalent employees (FTEs). Visit SaskTel at www.sasktel.com.

For media inquiries, please contact:

• Lindsay Mazenc, SaskTel Manager of External Communications
• Phone: 306.777.5688
• E-mail: lindsay.mazenc@sasktel.com