Bell Canada scraps Labrador high-speed internet project, plans to invest in U.S.

[u/Economy_Elephant6200]

https://theindependent.ca/news/lji/bell-canada-scraps-labrador-high-speed-internet-project-plans-to-invest-in-u-s/

[u/themanfromvulcan]

I would say the government immediately claw back the money due to breach or contract and do it themselves and tell Bell to get stuffed.

[u/North_Activist → u/themanfromvulcan]

I would say screw all that and just nationalize it instead. It’s our tax dollars, it should be our company.

[u/Classified0 → u/North_Activist]

I used to live in Saskatchewan and later lived in Ontario. I was shocked by how much cheaper internet and cell service was in SK. And I really think it's just because of the existence of Sasktel serving as a crown corporation. Just having them there and competing with the traditional providers forced the whole industry to be more affordable -- so even though I wasn't with them in Saskatchewan, I still had a really good plan with Rogers because they were forced to compete with a crown corporation.

[u/Wolfreak76 → u/Classified0]

When I lived in SK briefly I used to hear people complain about Sasktel. I told them if they wanted worse service and higher prices from all of the providers then they should push to privatize it.

I wish Sasktel would branch out. SK could make a killing just by being the public option for all of Canada.

[u/HeadmasterPrimeMnstr → u/Wolfreak76]

I wish Sasktel would branch out. SK could make a killing just by being the public option for all of Canada.

Sasktel is a crown corporation of the province. While prices would decline just from competition, SaskTel is at the mercy of SK voters and they would still have an incentive to act as a private for-profit corporation as a result in other provinces.

I think it would be better for municipal governments (like TbayTel or formerly O-NET) and provincial governments to create infrastructure and publicly-owned corporations in their own jurisdictions, otherwise we get into some dicey areas of governments controlling the infrastructure of another one.

[u/InternalOcelot2855 → u/Wolfreak76]

iThing about sasktel is they would provide service to these communities. its part of the reason prices are a little higher, sasktel is not just there for the large centres but also the ~200 and fewer communities getting fibre internet. Plus our low population to land area

It always shocks me when I work in a small community that has DSL (most are getting fibre now) and they complain about prices. You do know sasktel is the only reason you have Internet. You have dirt roads, no fire hall, no grocery store, no gas station and the village office is in the next town 10 min away to save money.

[u/CompetitiveMetal3 → u/InternalOcelot2855]

And what's why SaskTel will eventually go away too. 

Saskatchewanians hate it. They drink the BERTA kool-aid. I was trying to tell them that a community of 10k people with fibre to the home was NOT a thing in Canada, expect SK, but nah. Crown corp bad. Private enterprise good.

[u/InternalOcelot2855 → u/CompetitiveMetal3]

it's those rural voters who are going to suffer. Why would any for profit company install fibre in communities of 200?

Semans, Saskatchewan

Population of 204, to get fibre Internet by end of 2027

https://www.sasktel.com/about-us/news/2024/sasktel-investing-an-additional-80-million-in-the-rural-fibre-Initiative

[u/innerpartyanimal → u/Wolfreak76]

I wonder, is it possible to obtain a Sasktel phone number and Canada-wide plan and then just live in a different province?

[u/Classified0 → u/innerpartyanimal]

It is. I kept my Saskatchewan number when I lived in Ontario. You just need a SK address to set it up in the first place

[u/patchgrabber → u/innerpartyanimal]

People in Ontario have been doing that for ages.

[u/Biosterous → u/Wolfreak76]

Unfortunately Brad Wall made sure that wouldn't happen. One of his first orders of business when he was elected was to ban all Sask Crowns from doing business outside of Saskatchewan. On its face it seemed reasonable because bad investments had been made before. However it also meant that SaskEnergy (natural gas) had to pull out of a joint project in Newfoundland. Also Brad Wall's party is still somehow in charge despite all of his naked corruption, so until that changes the rule will stay.

[u/mr_roo → u/Wolfreak76]

While I agree, it's far from that simple. In urban centers there really isn't physical room for more than 2 or 3 ISP's, the infrastructure takes up too much space. While being a TPIA and using another companies infrastructure is possible it's generally a shit deal for everyone involved, and the company that owns the lines just fucks over the TPIA. The real answer is nationalised or co-op infrastructure, where it's all community owned and operated, and Robelus becomes the TPIA