SaskTel sees fifth year of dwindling income in ‘very hot’ marketplace

WATCH: SaskTel is facing its fifth year of dwindling revenue as a unique player in a competitive and closely regulated industry.

SaskTel is reporting another year of diminishing income as a unique player in a competitive and closely regulated industry.

The crown corporation was one of seven provincial crowns to file its annual financial report Monday. It says a combination of competition, limited market expansion and “cord cutting” reduced net income for the fifth year in a row.

“We are well positioned where we’re keeping our market share quite strong, and we do compete in a very, very hot telecommunications marketplace in our province,” said Jeff Welke, SaskTel’s director of corporate affairs.

Net income for the 2024-2025 fiscal year was $82.2 million, a decrease of $13.2 million from 2023-24. Net income has been on a declining trend each year dating back to $130.8 in 2021.

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In its annual report, the company highlights the constraints it faces as a crown corporation, which isn’t seeking profits like a publicly traded company would.

The report says competitor intensity — including non-traditional competitors like Starlink — industry consolidation, and disruptive technology could impact revenue and market share going forward.

“I think we all see the big players that are in here — the Bells, the Telus’, the Rogers,” Welke said. “There’s all kinds of competition that way.”

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SaskTel lost over three per cent of MaxTV customers last year, or 3,612 people, and nearly six per cent, or 14,108, landline customers, as cord cutting continues to affect business.

Welke admitted there’s a point where the company will need to look at not offering the service to save money, but for now, the company is legally obligated to provide “basic level services.”

“We’re seeing when that cutover can be made and when new technologies could happen and be good enough to make that basic service offering (to) fulfill what the regulator needs as well,” Welke said.

“That day is coming. It’s not around the corner, but it’s coming down the pike, eventually.”

Another obstacle to increasing revenue, says Welke — the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), which is the national regulator for telecommunications and broadcasting.

Last year, the CRTC required large telephone companies to allow competitors to use their fibre optic networks to offer internet services, which the CRTC called “a move aimed at increasing competition and potentially lowering prices for consumers.”

In the report, SaskTel says it actively participates in CRTC proceedings to ensure SaskTel’s unique position is understood, including its differences from other players within the Canadian telecom industry. Since it operates as a crown corporation, it lacks the ability to expand its consumer services beyond Saskatchewan’s borders.

Other telecom giants in the country have also argued against the CRTC decision, saying it limits profitability.

“We disagree with having to open up. Perhaps, our networks of competition at rates we don’t set. So those are the kinds of things that happen in that environment, and it makes it yet another business challenge for us, but one we’re going to take on,” Welke said.

Jeremy Harrison, the minister responsible for crown corporations, said Saskatchewan’s footprint and sparsely populated north also make it a challenge to invest money in infrastructure to provide internet in rural communities where others wouldn’t.

“Things like rural fiber rollout, which frankly, wouldn’t have been made if this were a private company who would just not be able to justify the long-term return on investment,” Harrison said.

“We’ve made that decision that it’s worth doing.”

With stiff competition for a limited number of customers, a changing regulatory environment and changing technology, SaskTel is facing difficulties hitting income projections.

“We’re here to compete and, and we’re certainly poised to do that,” Welke said.