SaskTel boosts profit by $29M, private partner still on the table

SaskTel is rakingin more money, but its future is still uncertain.

The Crown corporation released its annual report Tuesday, which showed an increase in net income of nearly $29 million over the last 12-month period, for a total net income of $134.8 million.

During the year, SaskTel paid $30 million in dividends to the Crown Investments Corporation.

Despite the growth, the minister responsible for SaskTel, Dustin Duncan, saidthe government is still exploring the option of bringing in private business to "partner" with the Crown.

Such a partnership would help keep SaskTel competitive, he said.

High-level,preliminary discussions

"I don't want to leave the impression that something is going to happen, whether it's on the Bill 40 side or whether it's more on the partnership side," Duncan said.

(Bill 40 allows the government to sell up to 49 per cent of its Crowns.)

More work needs to be done to determine what a partnership could look like, he said.

"SaskTelwill remain in the ownership of the people of Saskatchewan and the government of Saskatchewan, whether that remains in whole or as a majority stakeholder," he said.

Changes SaskTel has made and will make are about maintaining it how it is, not about making it more attractive to be purchased, Duncan added.

Criteria for selecting a partner, he said, would include: the ability to keep SaskTel's head office in Saskatchewan, job growth potential, and potential to improve service and coverage.

No 'clear picture' on SaskTel'sfuture: Opposition

Duncan and the government were called out by the Opposition for what it saidis a lack of clarity.

"We've got literally millions of reasons why SaskTel is valuable to the people of Saskatchewan," said NDPSaskTel critic Warren McCall.

"What we don't have a clear picture on today is, again, what is this government's plan for the future of SaskTel."

The future of the Crown and the jobs it provides should be straightforward, he said.

"I don't know if it's about their desperate rush to find revenues in trying to address the fiscal mess of their own making," he said, "but if they can't come forward with answers about the future of SaskTel, then that should be a slam dunk."

Regarding jobs, Duncan couldn't paint a clear picture about what a partnership would mean, but he said it would"likely mean that there would be more people working at SaskTel, not less."

No timeline was given as to when more information about a partnership will be released. Discussions surrounding the matter are in very "preliminary" stages, Duncan said.

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