SaskTel to invest nearly $440 million to enhance connectivity across Saskatchewan in 2024/25

April 23, 2024

Photo provided by Kevin Leek, SaskTel Trunking & Switching Technician

Today, SaskTel announced that it will invest $439.8 million of capital across Saskatchewan in 2024/25 and more than $2.0 billion over the next five years. These investments will ensure families and businesses throughout the province have access to the advanced communications networks and technologies they need to connect to the world.

“Ensuring the people of Saskatchewan have access to cutting-edge broadband and wireless technologies is a key part of our government’s plan to grow and strengthen our province,” said Dustin Duncan, Minister Responsible for SaskTel. “The investments being made by SaskTel will further enhance communications infrastructure in Saskatchewan, which will help drive economic development and create a more connected future for all residents of our province.”

“As Saskatchewan’s homegrown communications leader, we are committed to being the best at connecting the people of our province to what matters most to them” said Charlene Gavel, SaskTel President and CEO. “In 2024/25, over half of our total capital investments will be used to expand our 5G and fibre broadband networks to rural communities which will allow our customers to enjoy the same level of connectivity as those living in larger urban centres.”

Highlights of SaskTel’s 2024/25 investment program include:

5G deployment - $140.6 million

SaskTel’s 5G network delivers hyper-fast data speeds allowing customers to connect to their world faster than ever before. Plus, as the 5G network evolves, it will support the development and wide-spread implementation of virtual healthcare, immersive education, smart agriculture, and many other technological innovations that will improve the quality of life and drive economic development across Saskatchewan.

In 2024/25, SaskTel plans to complete 5G upgrades on nearly 200 cell sites serving rural, resort, and First Nations communities as well as major highway corridors and other rural areas. In addition, SaskTel also plans to construct 5 new cell sites to enhance wireless coverage and capacity in the nine major urban centres. In addition, SaskTel also plans to construct 5 new cell sites to enhance wireless coverage and capacity in some urban centres.

Fibre-to-the-x (FTTx) program - $131.3 million

Already Saskatchewan’s largest fibre optic broadband network, SaskTel infiNET™ service delivers internet speeds reaching close to a Gigabit per second (Gbps) to residents and businesses in 52 communities throughout the province. Additionally, as a fibre-based network, SaskTel can expand the capacity of the infiNET network to accommodate the evolving bandwidth needs of customers.

In 2024/25, SaskTel will make significant investments in its Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) and Fibre-to-the-Business (FTTB) initiatives, collectively known as FTTx. These investments will facilitate the expansion of SaskTel’s infiNET network to more communities included in its Rural Fibre Initiative. Additionally, SaskTel will also work to complete its fibre network builds in the nine major urban centres, with a focus on connecting multi-dwelling units and businesses to the infiNET network.

Technology - $74.7 million

SaskTel’s wireline and wireless networks deliver exceptional communications and entertainment services to customers across the province. In 2024/25, SaskTel will make investments to strengthen its core networks, enhance SaskTel selectWI-FI, maintain maxTV infrastructure, and improve its access networks to ensure that it continues to provide a high-quality experience to customers.

Customer services and operations - $93.2 million

In 2024/25, SaskTel plans to invest in a number of critical items that will support the growth of its customer base and elevate the overall customer experience. Some of these expenditures will support SaskTel’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) transformation and enhance self-serve options. SaskTel will also invest in Information Systems (IS) infrastructure to further support frontline areas of the company. These investments will help SaskTel deliver positive experiences and seamless interactions to customers across all channels.

*Capital spending is for the fiscal year 2024-2025 – April 1, 2024 – March 31, 2025.

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.