SaskTel is moving forward with its InfiNet fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network buildout plan, announcing that it will roll out services to Estevan and Weyburn, Saskatchewan, in March 2016.
Services in these cities will be available to the first homes beginning in June. Given the challenges of rolling out a FTTP network, SaskTel did not specify what parts of these cities will be the first to get service.
On its infiNET web page, SaskTel said service installation in specific neighborhoods will be based on a number of factors including resources, cost and ease of deployment, age and quality of the current network, and the current broadband available there.
This latest investment builds on the telco's Next Generation Broadband Access Program that it announced in 2011. SaskTel said it would spend $216 million that year and $700 million over seven years to build the FTTP network in its nine largest urban centers -- Saskatoon, Regina, Moose Jaw, Weyburn, Estevan, Swift Current, Yorkton, North Battleford and Prince Albert.
Eligible customers will get access to enhanced set of broadband speeds and video service capabilities.
The carrier will initially offer Internet speeds of up to 260/60 Mbps. Unlike AT&T (NYSE: T) and Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA), SaskTel will offer customers unlimited downloading with no overage fees.
From a video perspective, customers will be able to connect up to seven set-top boxes, all with HD and PVR capabilities. Shows can be recorded on one TV to view later in another room.
For more:
- see the release
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