This blog is in response to a letter that appeared in the StarPhoenix on September 28, 2012 titled "Poor Service."SaskTel has spent decades building a telecommunications network in Saskatchewan that is second to none, but restrictions set out by CRTC do not allow our Crown to choose the rates that customer are charged for telephone service – urban or rural. Although SaskTel believes that every customer in Saskatchewan should have the same access to reliable and affordable service, we do not always have the ability to set those parameters.  This is a similar situation with the decisi...

It seems as though the residential and business customers in rural Saskatchewan who require access to High Speed Internet services have been given a second chance by Industry Canada. Following two years of consultation with business, government, and residents, Industry Canada made the decision to change the way that spectrum, or radio frequency, is allocated between network providers across the country.  This means that SaskTel would no longer be able to provide Wireless Broadband Internet (WBBI) service to rural customers across the province. Access to, and ownership of, the Canadian wir...

Recently, the 2011 Crown Corporation Payee Disclosure report was released, detail payments that Crowns have made to Board members, employees, suppliers, and sponsorships, among other things. The Payee Disclosure report has been a traditional tool of accountability and transparency for our Crowns. It also shows the immense reach that Crowns have within Saskatchewan, and one of the reasons that this province is a great place to live and make a living. One of the largest portions of the report is the employee compensation section for each individual Crown. Any employee that earns more than 50,000...

Last year the government of Saskatchewan declared that April would be recognized as “Safe Digging Month” in the province “to increase public awareness on the importance of working safely around underground infrastructure.”However, there seems to be more and more stories about gas line hits in the news than ever before. Previously, Crowns including SaskTel, SaskPower, and SaskEnergy conducted their own line locates, which have all been contracted out to a private company. Christy Best, President of CEP Local 649 who represents members at both SaskEnergy and SaskPower, sa...