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Local apartment tenants face service disruption

Jan 18, 2019 | 4:03 PM

Residents at all Weidner apartment buildings in Prince Albert have learned their SaskTel cable, landline and internet services will be disconnected in March, through no fault of their own.

In a letter from SaskTel dated Jan. 8, customers were told crews were unable to upgrade the infrastructure in the buildings to infiNET. The Crown’s External Communications Manager Greg Jacobs explained to paNOW that in order to upgrade the infrastructure in any apartment building, they require the permission of the property manager.

“Despite our efforts, Weidner has never granted us access to upgrade the infrastructure in any of their buildings in Prince Albert, and we’ve been trying to work with them since the spring of 2017,” he said.

Jacobs said they have not encountered any similar issues with any other property managers in Prince Albert or at the Weidner apartment buildings in Saskatoon. He added that because the fibre build is pretty much done in Prince Albert, the copper network will soon get turned down.

“As a result because when the copper network is turned down in Prince Albert and because Weidner hasn’t allowed us to upgrade our infrastructure in their buildings, SaskTel customers in Weidner buildings will no longer be able to get service from us and will have to choose a different provider,” he said.

paNOW reached out to the local Weidner property managers for comment but was told only someone at their head office in Seattle could assist with the request. In the meantime, Weidner has issued a letter of its own to its tenants explaining the move, which was also obtained by our newsroom.  According to the letter, Weidner felt the infrastructure upgrade would cause a large disruption within the suites in the buildings.

“This would potentially displace our residents for a period of time. The work would also result in a lower quality of installation and result in cabling and wire to be visible within the suites and hallways. We find that to be an unacceptable solution.”

The letter goes on to say Weidner wants its residents to have the option of high-speed fibre optic internet but added they wanted the construction done in a safe, non-disruptive and visually appealing way.

“We will continue to work with SaskTel on a solution that will not risk the quality and integrity of the community and the service we provide.”

paNOW has also spoken to several tenants about the letters, who expressed frustration over the situation. One woman said it comes at a time when they were informed their rent would be going up, the third time in less than a year and a half. 

A Weidner head office spokesperson said the company will be reaching out to local managers to review the situation. 

 

nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell