(CJME News Staff)

By CJME News

SaskTel using COVID-19 protocols for Internet installations; demand for services up

Mar 25, 2020 | 1:31 PM

Don’t be surprised if you’re a SaskTel customer and you get a call from the company to send a technician over to your home or business.

The Crown corporation says it’s still doing Internet installations for people who have appointments booked.

The difference now with the COVID-19 pandemic is the company and its technicians will be posing a new set of questions to you before they come over. They’ll ask if you or anyone in your home (family or guests) recently returned from international travel (including the United States), and if you or anyone in your home/business is currently self-isolated.

If the answer is “yes” to either of those questions, the technician won’t go inside, and will return two weeks later to do the work. They can still do any work needed outside the home or business, the company said in a statement.

“The customer will need to call back to make an appointment after 14 days of self-isolation,” the statement said.

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The statement also said that “any field technicians that are required to enter high risk locations such as hospitals, nursing homes or premises that have had potential COVID-19 exposure are equipped with the appropriate personal protective equipment including masks and gloves.”

By the numbers

SaskTel also said it’s taking extra steps to improve service during the pandemic, especially as more people are working from home.

As of Monday, the company said it has seen the following increases in demand for service.

• Wireline voice traffic: 100 per cent “increase in call attempts on overall toll traffic. Much of this is due to toll-free calling, partly associated with conference calling activity.”
• Wireless voice traffic: “SaskTel has seen increases in demand of up to 16 per cent over the past week.”
• maxTV: Content delivery for maxTV traffic has increased by 10 to 18 per cent across the network compared to last week.
• Internet: “Very small growth in provincial data traffic (approximately 5 per cent); SaskTel’s national Internet traffic has increased by about 25 to 30 per cent.”

Access Communications is also seeing a rise in the amount of people using the internet and phone services.

During what is traditionally non-peak hours (9 a.m. – 5 p.m.), Access has seen a 35 per cent increase in internet usage and a 60 per cent increase in phone traffic.

The increase in phone usage is more than Access would see during holidays like Mother’s Day.