By Bryn Levy

SaskTel reacts to CRTC ruling on rates

May 7, 2015 | 6:27 AM

A ruling this week by the CRTC could mean more money flowing to SaskTel.

The regulator eliminated caps on the rates SaskTel can charge for other carriers to access its network.

The caps were imposed back in 2011 as an across-the-board measure affecting all wireless carriers in the country. With the ruling, the CRTC got rid of them for all but the so-called ‘Big Three’ cell service providers: Rogers, Bell and Telus.

The move is meant to help smaller competitors in the wireless business. In its decision, the CRTC called the Big Three’s practices when it came to charging the fees anti-competitive. As such, they’ll continue to have their rates capped at the 2011 numbers until November. At that time, the Big Three will have to submit proposals for rates that would then be capped for five years.

For SaskTel, the 2011 caps were a major obstacle. Vice-president John Meldrum explained that it’s been expensive to build and maintain the wireless network in rural Saskatchewan, and the caps prevented them from charging the larger companies a rate that reflected the true cost of the network.

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Meldrum said the discrepency meant SaskTel was forced to leave somewhere between $5 million and $10 million a year on the table. Contrast that with net revenues of around $75 million a year, and Meldrum said it’s clear the caps were dealing the company a major hit.

While Meldrum said the change in the wake of the latest ruling is unlikely to affect consumer wireless rates, there are other benefits for customers.

“We were in the position where rural expansion had virtually stopped. So we’ll now be able to have a much better look to see what sort of expansions and additions might make sense,” Meldrum said.

He added that even putting potential expansion aside, the extra cash should help with maintenance of the existing network.

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by Bryn Levy

SaskTel reacts to CRTC ruling on rates

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