SaskTel bringing infiNET opportunity to Esterhazy, Macklin, Unity and Wynyard

March 6, 2024

Photo courtesy of the Town of Unity.

Today, SaskTel announced it will soon begin connecting homes to SaskTel infiNET™ service in Esterhazy, Macklin, Unity, and Wynyard as part of the Crown corporation’s $200 million Rural Fibre Initiative. Delivering lightning-fast internet speeds, SaskTel’s infiNET service allows customers to access the latest digital tools and technologies to socialize, learn, pursue economic opportunities, and connect to healthcare and other government services. SaskTel anticipates select areas in all four communities will be fibre-ready by late-March.

“Ensuring the people of our province have access to the advanced communications infrastructure they need to succeed in the modern world is a key priority for our government,” said Warren Kaeding, MLA for Melville-Saltcoats. “Thanks to SaskTel’s continued expansion of its fibre broadband network, the residents in these communities will soon have access to the same level of broadband speeds and connectivity as those living in Regina, Saskatoon, and other larger urban centres.”

“As Saskatchewan’s homegrown communications leader, we’re committed to being the best at connecting our customers to their world.” said Charlene Gavel, SaskTel President and CEO. “Once we’ve completed this latest expansion, our fibre network, which is already by far the largest network of its kind in Saskatchewan, will reach households in more than 50 communities across the province.”

Powered by SaskTel’s fibre optic broadband network, infiNET service delivers internet speeds reaching close to a Gigabit per second (Gbps), allowing subscribers to surf, stream, and share however much content they want at incredible speeds. Plus, the infiNET network has the capacity to grow to support the evolving needs of SaskTel’s customers and increasing popularity of cloud services, video streaming, and smart technologies.

“It's fantastic to hear about initiatives like this aimed at improving services in our community, while paving the way for progress and development in our region,” said Brent Weber, Deputy Mayor of the Town of Unity. “Access to faster, more reliable internet will be a game-changer for Unity businesses, schools, healthcare, and residents. With quicker access, people will be able to engage more efficiently in their hobbies, stay connected globally, and readily access important resources.”

The Rural Fibre Initiative is a multi-phase program that will see SaskTel bring infiNET service to those living and working in more than 130 rural communities. Once the announced phases of the Rural Fibre Initiative are complete, SaskTel’s infiNET network will reach approximately 80% of all Saskatchewan households.

The continued expansion of its infiNET and 5G networks is a direct result of SaskTel’s commitment to invest more than $1.6 billion of capital across Saskatchewan over the next five years. These investments will ensure Saskatchewan remains one of the most well-connected provinces in the country.

Over the coming weeks, SaskTel will contact residents in all four communities to provide information on how and when they can schedule their upgrade to infiNET service.

To learn more about infiNET service, please visit www.sasktel.com/infinet.

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.