SASKATOON — SaskTel president and CEO Charlene Gavel said the Crown will continue preparing to improve the province’s telecommunications infrastructure to keep pace with growing network demands driven by artificial intelligence and data usage.
Gavel, speaking Tuesday after the release of Crown Investments Corporation’s annual reports at the Courtyard by Marriott, defended SaskTel’s decision to invest in fibre technology, but warned that federal regulatory changes could undermine those efforts.
“Certainly, we have long-term plans to address that. We invest significantly in capital every year, $143 million this year, and significant investment in our fibre networks, so we have a lot of capacity at this point and continue to ensure that we're investing to continue to support all of that,” she said.
She added that fibre network and 5G improvements remain SaskTel’s largest infrastructure investment, with over $1 billion invested, to ensure the province’s communications network is ready for future technologies and continued growth. Despite that, SaskTel’s financial position remains solid.
“The great thing about fibre is that it is in the ground. It is a very long-term asset and very robust. We continue to upgrade the electronics at the end of that, as well as the equipment within our switching centres. So, the investment is the biggest that goes into fibre in the ground,” said Gavel.
“Our debt ratio is also one of the lowest of all of the telecoms across the country. Although our debt level increased a little bit because of our significant investment in fibre and 5G, as that investment tails off in the next couple of years, our debt ratio will go down to the 55 per cent level, which is our target.”
Gavel also raised concerns about the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s high-speed access decision, which allows competitors to resell broadband services over networks built by other providers.
She said the decision treats SaskTel the same as Canada’s largest telecom providers, despite the Crown corporation’s different business model and geographic challenges, and that this will allow others to enter this province and resell the fibre SaskTel has invested in before making money on it.
Gavel added that SaskTel’s mandate goes beyond earning profits, extending telecommunications services to rural and remote communities while also focusing on reliable service across Saskatchewan, whose large land area and relatively small customer base create unique challenges not faced by larger carriers.
“One of the priorities of the CRTC is accessibility, so we're going to places that others would not go with that infrastructure, and we ensure our services are reliable. This decision is really intended to further those objectives, but it's not going to do that here at all,” said Gavel.
“We have a big geographic area to cover with relatively fewer customers, so the economies of scale are a challenge. I think we're meeting many of our objectives, and that decision is very troublesome for us. We continue to ensure that we're investing to continue to support all of that.”
