(File photo/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Technology

District of Lakeland drops Sasktel high speed offer

Feb 19, 2021 | 3:46 PM

A plan to provide high speed internet in the Emma Lake Christopher Lake area is back to square one following a decision Friday by the District of Lakeland council to rescind the existing memorandum of understanding with SaskTel.

The 5-1 vote at a special meeting follows a virtual public meeting that was held Thursday. Roughly 140 ratepayers joined the ZOOM meeting, and there was also 27 speakers and 12 written submissions. All but two of the speakers expressed opposition to SaskTel’s proposal and the idea they would have to pay a levy for a service they felt was second rate. Reeve Walter Plessl told paNOW when all was said and done, council could not ignore the obvious push back from the community.

“It came to a point like why are we really moving this forward. There’s not enough appetite for it,” he said.

The proposed plan would have seen the District pay SaskTel $1 million for the DSL 10/1 broadband plan, with the cost ultimately shared by the respective 1,900 property owners at roughly $500 to $600 per household. Council was however offering payment options over five and even 10 years. When a survey was conducted last summer to get a feel for public interest, there was a 55 per cent response rate with 52 per cent of respondents (597 properties) saying they did not like SaskTel’s offer.

Weighing the results, council opted to go ahead with the plan, which opponents argued was not right. When interviewed at the time by paNOW, Plessl defended council’s decision, explaining investment in this type of infrastructure was critical in this day and age to allow working people to do their meetings from home, and to accomodate the many people who travel to the lake each summer.

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Voting Friday to reject the plan, Plessl said a lot has changed in the past six months.

“What we thought we were getting, may not have been what we were going to get so that was another deal-breaker for council,” he said, adding as well in the past months other companies have come forward with competitive offers. Another deal-breaker for council was the fact SasKTel could not provide a user pay system, similar to what Sask Energy offers its customers.

“I’m not usually a guy that changes his mind but I thought, in the best interest of the people, it was the right move before we get any deeper into the project,” he said.

Happy ratepayer

Hildy Richardson was among the numerous ratepayers opposed to the SaskTel proposal, and so on Friday was very happy about the latest development.

“It’s been going on since 2018 and it probably should have been pulled a long time ago,” she said

One of the sticking points for Richardson was the need to look at other options. Xplornet is among the companies proposing builds in northern parts of the province and is in the process of applying for funding under the universal broadband fund. The same funding wasn’t available under the Sasktel plan because they did not meet the minimum requirement of 50/10—Sasktel was offering up to 10/1.

“I wouldn’t have been able to be on Zoom yesterday [at the public meeting] if I had an internet connection like that,” Richardson said.

In addition to voting on the motion Friday, council also voted to establish a committee that will look at a best option for reliable internet service in the district. The committee will consist of both ratepayers and council members.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell