SaskTel estimates the coronavirus pandemic has cost the corporation about $10.7 million in its 2019-20 fiscal year.
“The pandemic, undoubtedly, has had a significant impact on SaskTel in a number of ways…the exact amount is a little uncertain, but it will depend on the duration of the pandemic and the impact it has on the broader economy in the province of Saskatchewan,” said Doug Burnett, SaskTel president and CEO.
“We forgone some significant revenue in favour of doing our best to protect some of the more vulnerable customers in our customer base by waving things like data overages and deferring interest payments.”
Despite that, SaskTel had another year of growth in terms of revenue and net income, outlined in its 2019-20 annual report released on Wednesday.
The Crown corporation reported a net income of $119.8 million and operating revenues of $1,283.7 million.
“SaskTel’s strategic priorities place their customers at the centre of everything they do with a goal of making it easier for customers to do business with the company and for employees to serve customers,” said Don Morgan, minister responsible for SaskTel.
SaskTel credits its increased revenue to the adoption of wireless and wireline growth services.
Broken down, 44.9 per cent of its revenue came from wireless network services and equipment, 29.4 per cent came from maxTV service, internet and data and 15.2 per cent of its revenue came from local access, enhanced services and long distance.
Throughout the year, SaskTel invested about $263 million in capital improvements across Saskatchewan, preparing its network for future.
Of that $263 million, $228.4 million was spent on property, plant and equipment including Fibre to the Premises, wireless networks and Access Demand.
The remaining $34.5 million was invested in things such as customer self-serve systems, accounting reporting systems and wireless spectrum.
“As we enter a new decade, we find ourselves on the cusp of monumental change in our industry as digital, web-based, and emerging technologies continue to reshape the way we operate and interact with our customers, vendors, and other partners,” Burnett said.
“We recognize that we must evolve our business to support customers’ shifting expectations and to continue providing exceptional service in a digital world. Digital transformation continues to be the main driver reshaping customer and employee experiences across our business.”
Its report indicates the corporation boasts a wireline network that reaches nearly double the amount of communities than its close competitors.
SaskTel offers internet services in 459 communities, with 319 of those communities having speeds of up to 50 Mbps or faster.
In 2019-20, SaskTel also expanded its fibre service, making it available to more than 16,000 more homes in a number of new neighbourhoods. It also connected nearly 16,000 customers to infiNET service.
“The challenge that we have in Saskatchewan is that we’re not a densely populated area like New York or Toronto so we have the difficulty in trying to spread the service over a large geographical area,” Morgan said.
“Small towers relatively give good coverage in a small community…we’re always trying to look at different methods to increase coverage.”
SaskTel paid $107.2 million in dividends to Crown Investment Corporation, a $9.1 million decrease from a year ago.
It also said it contributed $2,850,827 to 957 non-profit and charitable organizations, community associations, venues, events and partnerships in more than 233 communities across Saskatchewan.
SaskTel’s full report can be found here.
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