REGINA – SaskTel today announced it will invest an additional $50 million in its rural fibre initiative, bringing its total investment to $100 million this year and next.
The new investment will bring fibre optic broadband to 30,000 residents in 24 more rural Saskatchewan communities than previously planned by the end of 2023, says the company’s announcement.
Originally announced this past December, the Rural Fibre Initiative is a multi-phase program that will bring SaskTel infiNET service to over 40 rural Saskatchewan communities by the end of 2023.
To date, SaskTel has finalized the communities to be connected in the first three phases of the Rural Fibre Initiative, these include, reads the announcement:
Phase 1 – Balgonie, Biggar, Langham and Pilot Butte. Construction has begun in all four communities, and the company anticipates that the majority of homes and businesses will be fibre ready by the end of March 2022.
Phase 2 – Kindersley, Meadow Lake and Rosetown. Construction will begin in all three communities later this year.
Phase 3 – Canora, Carlyle, Esterhazy, Fort Qu’Appelle, Hudson Bay, Indian Head, Kamsack, La Ronge, Lumsden, Maple Creek, Moosomin, Shaunavon, Watrous and Wynyard. SaskTel plans to begin construction in these communities in 2022.
Phase 4 – SaskTel will spend $50 million to bring fibre to 24 additional communities. A formal announcement will be made when the remaining communities to be included in this phase are finalized.
Upon completion of the rural fibre initiative, SaskTel estimates that approximately 75% of the population of the province will have access to its fibre optic broadband network.
To reach that last 25%, the company also said today it will soon start looking into partnership opportunities to enable it to connect more communities beyond those included in the rural fibre initiative. The provincial Crown corporation will conduct a pilot program by issuing a request for information (RFI) to determine if any alternate Internet service provider or contractor may be able to deliver fibre broadband services in any communities not included in SaskTel’s current fibre build or its rural fibre initiative, says the release. It will be available on SaskTenders.
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