Big Three Lobby SaskTel as Opportunity to Buy Minority Stake Arises

The Big 3 have registered their intention to lobby SaskTel officials, as the Saskatchewan Party government has passed a bill allowing it to sell up to 49 percent of the Crown corporation (via the LeaderPost).

The opportunity seems too good to miss, so the incumbents have apparently approached SaskTel to discuss different things, but the main reason is the negotiations with the local carrier.

According to the province’s lobbyist registry, Bell listed at least three senior executives at SaskTel, and the activities of those officials include “negotiations to sell to SaskTel or to purchase from SaskTel various telecom services, such as long distance, data and mobility rates.”

The lobbying activity listed by Telus is described as “Telecommunications and data storage and technology solutions. Pursue opportunities to contract with Government to provide information and communications technology solutions.”

Rogers, on the other hand, is represented by Canadian Strategy Group’s Hal Danchilla, and the activity listed is “seeking insight and providing feedback ‘around future procurement opportunities on telecommunications storage solutions’ and ‘encouraging the use of offsite data storage and disaster recovery solutions.'”

The “sudden” interest in SaskTel apparently has something to do with Bill 40, which allows the SaskTel government to sell 49% of the local carrier.

While Rogers and Telus are apparently lobbying SaskTel Minister Dustin Duncan, an official statement from the Premier’s office said that Minister Duncan “has not met with Bell, Telus or Rogers, and there are no formal offers on the table for SaskTel”, and that he has “literally not met – or even popped into a meeting with someone else from his office … with any of the three companies mentioned.”