RURAL INTERNET
SaskTel service gets extension.
About 8,000 high-speed Internet users in rural Saskatchewan won’t lose their SaskTel service quite yet.
“We certainly have been hearing the concerns from many residents in rural Saskatchewan regarding the changes that will be made,” Don McMorris, minister responsible for SaskTel, said Friday.
The customers are going to lose their existing service because of changes being made at the federal level around broadband spectrum allocations.
“The premier’s office has been in contact with the prime minister’s office to see about an extension. . . . An extension was granted to March 2014 so that we can make this transition much smoother,” McMorris said, . “SaskTel thought it would be an easier transition than what it has been.
“Could it have been handled better? We think it could have been and that’s why we want to make sure that we’re kind of stepping back,” McMorris said, noting SaskTel will work with each customer affected.
An Industry Canada news release Friday says in 2006, “licensees were given a fiveyear transition period to reconfigure their networks and find appropriate solutions for their customers.
“In March of 2011, Industry Canada provided SaskTel with an extension through to December 31, 2012, in order to ensure continued service. In September 2012, SaskTel requested an additional extension, which Industry Canada has provided, until March 31, 2014.”
Darcee MacFarlane, SaskTel’s vice-president of corporate and government relations, said the Crown corporation at the end of 2011 stopped selling the existing service, for which parts are no longer being produced.
“I’ve even heard that our folks are scouring eBay for parts,” she said.
The government is partnering with a private company to provide Internet service by satellite, but that service isn’t ready for all customers yet following some unexpected delays, MacFarlane said.
“The year extension is very good for SaskTel. We are going to work very hard to ensure that no one is left without service and there are comparable service options,” she said, noting mobile 4G service is a possibility for some customers, too.
In a news release, the NDP Opposition says the Saskatchewan Party government “failed to stand up for Saskatchewan when they gave up on SaskTel’s right to spectrum needed to supply broadband Internet to rural areas. The Sask. Party further failed by keeping the change a secret for more than a year while continuing to allow customers to buy expensive hardware to access the service.
“In response to criticism from the NDP and the public, the Sask. Party defended their decision, saying that some rural residents should use a private satellite provider, even with its data caps, higher prices and a limited service area.”
Saskatoon-Rosetown-Biggar MP Kelly Block, who Industry Canada put forward to speak on the issue, said MPs were aware of the concerns, “and our ability to communicate those to our minister and have our government respond, I’m very pleased about that.
“It is something that as the industry has changed, it’s a very technical industry, so being able to stay on top of some of the changes and the implications that it has for service providers like SaskTel, we’ve been grateful for the opportunities that we’ve had to meet with SaskTel, and again, I’m just very grateful that our government responded to the concerns and extended the deadline.”