The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) says it is pleased with Friday鈥檚 announcement by SaskTel and the provincial government to help further improve rural connectivity across the province. This new investment of $50 million will bring critical infrastructure to 24 additional communities, plus create an opportunity for smaller providers to accelerate service delivery in even more locations.
Bringing fibre to more of Saskatchewan鈥檚 communities will be an important step in bridging the digital divide. It was recently estimated that Saskatchewan could see an annual $1.2 billion boost to provincial GDP if every household could reach the CRTC鈥檚 service objective of 50/10 Mbps internet speeds.
鈥淭oday鈥檚 announcements align with the recent recommendations of our Task Force,鈥� said Jeremy Welter, Chair of APAS鈥檚 Rural Connectivity Task Force. 鈥淭his is good news for Saskatchewan鈥檚 rural communities and these improvements will help increase their prosperity and resilience in the future.鈥�
In September 2020, APAS launched the Rural Connectivity Task Force to understand the challenges in addressing Saskatchewan鈥檚 inadequate rural internet and cellphone coverage. The Task Force spent months meeting with industry experts and service providers, and its findings resulted in 43 recommendations to improve connectivity in rural Saskatchewan.
