Communicating the Public Interest: a Case Study of SaskTel

Saskatchewan presents a worthy study of the public interest in communication distribution policy, as it was the last province in which telecommunications became federally regulated; it is the last province in which the incumbent communication carrier, SaskTel, is fully owned by the provincial government,' and it is a geographically large province with a relatively small population-many of whom still live in rural communities. Since its inception, the provincial government has worked to ensure that its sparsely distributed residents have access to the best communication services possible through the crown-owned SaskTel (formerly Saskatchewan Government Telephones). However, what was once a provincially owned and regulated monopoly has now been subject to federal regulation which favours competition in all sectors of the communication industry. The federal government adopted competition in the name of public interest, yet little has been done to assess the effectiveness of this claim. The current climate of uncertainty regarding new communication technologies, federal regulation, and the tide of provincial politics, have spoiled what was once an effective path for SaskTel and Saskatchewan citizens. It is clear that SaskTel's ability to meet its public policy goals is now threatened by the limitations of competition and federal regulation.