SaskTel has just applied to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) for a cable licence to provide Video and other technological services to the privileged urban areas of the province. The Saskatchewan Party has joined Communication Access, a cable company operating in Regina, in charging SaskTel of interfering with the private sector of the communication business. And therefore, there have been philosophical differences about the future role of SaskTel and concerns have been raised about its monopolistic position.

Journalist Murray Mandryk has been defending the new expanding role of SaskTel and has emphasized its technological know-how along the need for SaskTel to be profitable. I don't buy at all this biased positioning on behalf of SaskTel. What is important today is to have learning companies which provide innovative and effective services to customers, companies which are customer oriented and customer driven.

SaskTel is not a learning organization since it follows a discriminatory policy against rural Saskatchewan; SaskTel is not specifically innovative since it buys its know-how, as everybody else, in the global market; SaskTel is not effective since it deliberately overcharges its customers; SaskTel is not customer oriented since it has the monopoly of its customers; Sasktel is not customer driven since it doesn't listen to its customers.

Cisco Systems Inc. has just acquired a new technology which will allow telephony companies to broadcast quality video over regular phone lines. As a consequence, the monopolistic SaskTel is well positioned in taking over this new business at the expense of wireless and cable companies and my only fear is that the mismanagement of this company will further alienate its customers. In the meantime, let us hope that alternative technological solutions can be made available as soon as possible in rural as well as urban Saskatchewan.

References

General reference: articles by Mario deSantis

Saskatchewan Outports, by Timothy Shire, August 29, 200

Running the Business at SaskTel, by Mario deSantis, August 29, 2000

The case for SaskTel's cable venture, by Murray Mandryk, September 1, 2000, The Leader-Post, Regina, Saskatchewan

Cisco buys tech firm PixStream for $369M, by Simon Avery, Financial Post, September 1, 2000 http://www.nationalpost.com/tech/story.html?f=/stories/20000901/385566.html

Editor's Note: SaskTel has purchased a major portion of the Alberta based cable television company presently providing cable services to rural Saskatchewan.