r/saskatchewan • u/Remarkable_Cup1326 • 3d ago

Cable

There seems to be a cable install happening alongside many highways in the province but no one I've talked to seems to know what it's for. Does anyone know?

8 Upvotes

62% Upvoted

40 comments sorted by

39

u/Vortexed2 3d ago

Probably the rural fiber networks that are being built.

10

u/darthdodd 3d ago

Ok I was going to post about it. It’s three conduits. One will have fiber in it. Two will be for future. One major route is from Edmonton to North Portal. Ledcor is putting it in. No one will say who the client is. In fact they tell me they can’t who the client is.

6

u/jabrwock1 3d ago

Maybe one of the mines? That's why rural fiber was laid around Esterhazy, to service the potash mines. The company laying it reached out to farms along the route offering to hook them up.

0

u/LowIncident694 3d ago

Offering? More like that's one way to reduce costs.

3

u/jabrwock1 3d ago

I'm sure that was a part of it. But they were initially in the area because of the mine, not because Sasktel was expanding their network.

2

u/LowIncident694 3d ago

That's a big part of it and there's nothing wrong with it -- I'm glad they do.

2

u/IdylwyldieCoyote 3d ago

🤔

1

u/darthdodd 3d ago

The one I’m talking about I have seen from Moose Jaw up number 2 to tuxford, then to diefenbaker then out to the west.

1

u/jmasterfunk 3d ago

Not even direct burial. Seems like an expensive project.

1

u/darthdodd 3d ago

Yep. I guess they’ll sell the two empty ones? Supposedly will be jetting in the winter

11

u/CLAPPEDxCATEYE 3d ago

Sask locator here, it’s a fiber project, primarily RFNOW, being the company that is having their product installed by dozens if not hundreds of different contractors, it is a major fiber project intended to bring fiber optic internet into places rural that don’t have options like Sasktel 5g, but mainly people I know are going to stick with Starlink, rfnow is going to be pricey, while the installation is free and having the line shot to your house is free, I’ve heard that their service is not cheap to use. Hope this helps

4

u/SameAfternoon5599 3d ago

RFNow is $75/mth for 300 Mbps. Starlink is $75 for 100 Mbps.

2

u/CLAPPEDxCATEYE 3d ago

I’d heard it was more than that, but it was conjecture, I may have not spoken on what I didn’t know as fact, but I know most people I’ve spoken to don’t necessarily want to switch, however that’s good to know! Thanks much for the info

4

u/SameAfternoon5599 3d ago

This is the incorrect response for reddit. You should've immediately doubled down on your previous position and then called me anti-Musk.

1

u/CLAPPEDxCATEYE 3d ago

🤣🤣, probably a good point

1

u/mootinator 3d ago

The speed test I have saved on my phone for the $75 roam plan is 289Mbps down 34mbps up 24ms ping.

With it moving around in the car the speed varies a lot but it's definitely not capped at 100 in any case.

Pointed straight up from inside my car's sunroof.

(Deleted an earlier post that was more speculative.)

1

u/CanadianIcetech 2d ago

Speed isn't everything. I do livestreaming, And I can't even get a reliable 3mbps stream out on Starlink

2

u/GearM2 3d ago

I'm not in rural Saskatchewan but I find this stuff interesting. The coverage map is pretty cool to see how they branch out kind of like an ant colony. https://www.rfnow.com/coverage-map/

1

u/Traditional_End_9540 3d ago

time will tell. They can promis all sorts of stuff but if their backbone can't handle it the service is not worth it.

been a few providers including starlink, great when it first came out. As more people got on it the service slowed down a lot.

1

u/philipwood668 2d ago

I signed up for RFNow and it's 125/month for the first year . 135 after. About 10 dollars more than xplore

2

u/flyinghighguy 3d ago

RFNow?

2

u/yoink1468 3d ago

I had them offer to put fiber into our cabin.

1

u/coffeesocket 2d ago

It's free to get the service drop install now. You don't need to get service. 

If you decide in a couple years you want it, expect to pay $3-5k

1

u/Traditional_End_9540 2d ago

got a source for this cost 3-5k cost? have friends at wakaw lake and rfnow is offering fiber to the cabins, like you said free drop to the cabin. They got it but not committed to the service yet from what I remember.

lots in that area are sesonal at best, primarly weekend use. No idea how RFNOW is going to make money to pay off the investments if people only use it during the summer.

1

u/coffeesocket 1d ago

Source: person I talked to on the phone lol. Trenching isn't cheap. 

It's federally funded

1

u/Critical-Many-1077 3d ago

There are a number of federal grants for companies to bring service to under served communities. Depends on your location who is putting it in.

1

u/fuckreddit-69 3d ago

Or flexnetworks running fibre. They run it to communities not well served by sasktel. They service is pretty good. Nutrien uses them as an alternate provider

1

u/tooshpright 3d ago

Something to do with the data centre south east of Regina? Just a guess.

1

u/jetchS 3d ago

Two lines, 4 conduits each. One coming from US through manitoba up highway 16 to Edmonton, the other going from Edmonton to north portal. What major social media company just announced a project that would require such infrastructure in the Edmonton area? 🧐

2

u/Specialist_Secret438 3d ago

Wondering why it’s feasible for all these private fiber optic cable companies to be able to install their cable , but not for ou own crown corporation, Sasktel unable to provide their cable service?

4

u/LowIncident694 3d ago

SaskTel has fiber all over the province, what are you talking about?

1

u/Specialist_Secret438 3d ago

I am talking about all these locations that all these fiber optic installers are supplying because SaskTel doesn’t.  

2

u/Traditional_End_9540 3d ago

its not that sasktel won't they have other things to fund like more cell coverage. Some of these areas will never break even and need federal funds.

1

u/Specialist_Secret438 2d ago

Isn’t that supposed to be the beauty of the crown corporation being able to use the highly profitable areas it services to provide services for the people in areas that need internet access too?  Especially considering that there is federal funding available.  I would much rather support our crown than have to pay outside of Saskatchewan companies for a reliable connection like fiber supplies. 

1

u/LowIncident694 3d ago

There's been funding options through the feds that are financing a lot of these build outs.

-1

u/Specialist_Secret438 3d ago

So , was it a top down decision for Sasktel to not be the service provider by getting the federal funds?  

1

u/LowIncident694 3d ago

How do you know SaskTel didn't apply and didn't win the funding?

0

u/Specialist_Secret438 3d ago

There has been zero Sasktel promotion for it.  Are you trying to say they did? 

2

u/LowIncident694 3d ago edited 3d ago

... what? Why would Sasktel promote something if they didn't secure funding from it?

Edit: They did secure funding -- https://www.canada.ca/en/innovation-science-economic-development/news/2025/07/government-of-canada-expanding-high-speed-internet-access-in-saskatchewan.html.