SaskTel launches FTTP

Saskatchewan-based telco SaskTel has launched commercial fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) high speed broadband services under the ‘infiNET’ banner, offering data speeds of up to 200Mbps/60Mbps (download/upload). The launch forms part of a seven-year CAD670 million (USD674 million) investment programme to deploy direct fibre in the nine largest urban centres of SaskTel’s home province – Saskatoon, Regina, Moose Jaw, Weyburn, Estevan, Swift Current, Yorkton, North Battleford and Prince Albert. Customers in selected areas of Regina and Saskatoon are the first to receive infiNET services, and SaskTel estimates that over 40,000 homes will be passed by FTTP by the end of 2012. The operator will deploy infiNET to all residential areas in the nine urban centres by the end of 2017. The high speed fibre connections allow SaskTel’s broadband subscribers to add up to seven High Definition (HD) IPTV set-top boxes in one home/premises.