SaskTel investing another $100M into rural broadband services

More Saskatchewan homes are about to get access to faster Internet.

The provincial government announced Tuesday that SaskTel is putting another $100 million into its Rural Fibre Initiative, which will provide access to the company’s infiNET service to thousands of rural households and businesses in more than 80 towns and villages.

“Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association has long advocated for improvement in broadband services, in particular for smaller communities where access has lagged behind that of larger centres in our province,” SUMA president Randy Goulden said in a media release.

“We are pleased to see SaskTel continue to address this gap with additional funding. Connectivity is a priority for all our communities, and key to the viability of our smaller members in the future.”

“Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities fully supports investments into improved broadband services for communities in rural Saskatchewan,” SARM president Ray Orb added in the release.

“It is essential that access to broadband services in rural Saskatchewan achieves parity to those services available in larger communities and we look forward to working with the provincial government on future projects to continue to expand broadband services for the benefit of all rural residents and businesses in the province.”

The Rural Fibre Initiative is a multi-phase, $200-million program that will offer the infiNET service to more than 110,000 residents and businesses in more than 130 rural communities.

According to the release, SaskTel expects all of the communities included in the Rural Fibre Initiative to be fibre-ready by the end of March 2025.

The latest towns and villages that are to receive infiNET service will be connected as part of phases 5 and 6 of the initiative. The details of Phase 6 are to be announced once they’ve been finalized.