SaskTel expands 5G service to rural cell sites

SaskTel announced an expansion to its 5G wireless network last week. SaskTel says the 5G network has officially grown to include almost 100 more rural cell sites.

“We have been converting rural cell sites to 5G for a couple years now, and so as of today, we have over 420 rural cell sites converted to 5G,” explained Greg Jacobs, Manager of Corporate Communications with SaskTel. “We’re pleased with the progress we’re making. We still have a couple of years to go, and a few hundred rural cell sites to go, but we’re making progress, and that’s a positive.”

Included in the list of expanded 5G coverage areas are Maryfield, Wawota, Kenosee Lake, Manor, White Bear, and Moose Mountain Provincial Park.

“SaskTel’s 5G network is delivering for the people of Saskatchewan by transforming how they connect, work, and access vital services,” said Jeremy Harrison, Minister Responsible for SaskTel. “This cutting-edge technology goes beyond faster data speeds—it empowers individuals, businesses, and industries with the tools they need to succeed in an increasingly digital world. Whether it’s expanding access to remote health care, supporting online learning, or driving innovation in agriculture and transportation, 5G is delivering for our province’s economic growth and future prosperity.” 

Faster speeds

Upgrading cell sites to 5G doesn’t necessarily mean an expanded coverage area, rather the benefit is the service experience through faster data speeds as compared to the 4G network.

“We’re just scratching the surface of what you can do with that technology,” Jacobs said. “This is really sort of the entry level of it. As that technology evolves and as supporting technologies catch up with its capabilities, those data speeds will increase significantly year over year.”

Data speeds with 5G can reach 1.2 Gigabits per second compared to 4G, which offers peak download speeds of up to 100 Megabits per second.

“One of the very interesting things about a 5G wireless network is that it has significantly more capacity than previous generations of the technology, meaning that it can handle more device connections,” Jacobs explained. With the increase of smart devices such as doorbells, video cameras, and thermostats, faster data speeds are a growing necessity.

“We talk about smart technology, it permeates almost every aspect of life now, where everybody’s got some type of smart technology in their home,” Jacobs said. “Those things weren’t much of a reality a decade ago.”

Future developments

Jacobs says the 5G deployment will continue for a couple more years as there are still a few hundred cell sites to convert across the province. 

“We have made very strong progress since we started launching 5G in 2021,” he said. “We recently just reached about 700 5G enabled cell sites in the province, the majority of which actually are outside of the major urban centres.”

With technology always advancing and the 5G conversion concluding, sixth generation wireless technology may be available. Some predictions for 6G in Canada are as early as 2030, and speculate speeds of up to 100 times that of 5G. Such speeds would align with advancements in self-driving cars, real-time 16K virtual reality, cloud gaming, and live streaming on the go, for example. Research is already taking place in China, parts of the U.S., South Korea, Japan, and Europe. 

Meanwhile, more communities across the province will notice an increase in their internet speed as 5G continues to be added.

“We’re excited about it, we hope that our customers are excited about it,” Jacobs said. “And as that map continues to evolve, they should start to see some new and incredible abilities of the 5G network.”

In the recent provincial budget, $466 million was earmarked for SaskTel to help support quality networks and the continued rollout of fibre optic and 5G.

This story was originally published in The World-Spectator. It is republished under a Creative Commons license as part of the Local Journalism Initiative.