RFNOW vs SaskTel Internet: Comparing RFNOW Fiber to infiNET & Fusion for Rural Internet
SaskTel offers two very different products for rural homes: Fusion wireless and infiNET fiber. RFNOW Internet is a great option: offering dedicated fiber built by a local company, specifically for rural communities.
Understanding Your Options: What Are The Different Internet Services Offered by RFNOW and SaskTel?
Not all Internet is equal in terms of speed and reliability. And companies are different in terms of how they staff their businesses and support their customers. When comparing SaskTel infiNET and Fusion Services versus RFNOW, we’ll be honest on their core technologies and how they stack up. The meaningful differences come down to geography, speed symmetry, local ownership, and how your money gets spent.
RFNOW: Dedicated Fiber to Rural Communities
Independent, locally built and supported fiber-to-the-home network. Over 7,000 km across Southeast Saskatchewan and Western Manitoba with expansion through northern Saskatchewan in 2026. Symmetrical speeds from 300 Mbps to 1 Gbps. Built since 2000 specifically for rural communities, farms, and First Nations, not expanding outward from big cities.
SaskTel infiNET: Fiber-to-Home
A Crown corporation expanding across Saskatchewan. Speeds up to 940 Mbps download / 500 Mbps upload. Now in 170+ communities, with plans to reach nearly 200 rural communities by end of 2027. Competitive on technology; pricing includes introductory rates that increase after contract.
SaskTel Fusion: Fixed Wireless LTE
LTE wireless Internet for rural homes without wired access. Max 25 Mbps download, weather and terrain dependent, tower capacity shared across customers. A transitional product as SaskTel expands infiNET. It’s not a fiber replacement and is available where infiNET hasn’t yet arrived.
RFNOW vs SaskTel infiNET vs SaskTel Fusion
An honest look across all three services on the factors that matter most for rural Saskatchewan families.
| Feature | ⚡ RFNOW Fiber | SaskTel infiNET | SaskTel Fusion |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📡 Technology | |||
| Connection Type | Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH)Dedicated glass fiber directly to your home | Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH)SaskTel’s premium product — genuine fiber | Fixed Wireless LTERadio signal from tower; line-of-sight required |
| Weather Reliability | Completely weatherproof | Completely weatherproof | Weather & terrain affect qualitySaskTel acknowledges this in its own documentation |
| Technology Maturity | Modern fiber — scalable to multi-gig | Modern fiber — replacing DSL copper$280M Rural Fiber Initiative underway | 4G LTE — transitional productBeing phased out as infiNET expands |
| 🚀 Speed & Performance | |||
| Max Download Speed | Up to 1 GbpsGuaranteed delivered speed | Up to 940 MbpsStrong for all household needs | 5–10 Mbps maximumShared tower capacity |
| Upload Speed | Fully symmetrical (up = down)Critical for remote work, video calls, cloud | Up to 500 MbpsFast but not fully symmetrical at residential tier | Much slower than download |
| Latency (Ping) | Near-zero msIdeal for telehealth, gaming, video calls | ~5–15 ms (low)Excellent fiber latency | 30–80 ms+ and variable |
| Peak-Hour Consistency | Dedicated — your bandwidth, not shared | Generally consistentShared network with high capacity | Tower congestion reported evenings |
| Speed Guarantee | Quoted speed to your home — no “up to” | Speeds “may vary” per terms | “Up to” 10 Mbps — actual varies |
| 💰 Data & Pricing | |||
| Data Cap | Unlimited — no throttling | Unlimited on all plansFair Use Policy applies | Unlimited on most plans |
| Pricing After Contract | No intro pricing model — stable rates | Rates can increase significantly post-contracte.g., infiNET 300 may rise ~$35/mo | Generally stable; contract-free option |
| Bundle Options | Internet, TV & Home Phone availableBundle your services with a local provider | Bundle with TV, wireless, phoneSave $5–$25/mo bundling multiple services | Same bundle options as infiNET |
| 📞 Support & Service | |||
| Support Hours | 7 days/week — local team | 24/7 technical supportProvincial call centre | 24/7 outage line; Mon–Fri focus |
| Local Staff Presence | 200+ employees in your communitiesLive & work where they serve | Province-wide Crown corporationNot rural-community-specific | Third-party dealer network for installs |
| Installation | Fiber direct to home — full FTTH | Fiber direct to home; free basic install | Equipment + dealer install fees apply |
| 📍 Coverage & Geography | |||
| Service Territory | SE Saskatchewan + SW ManitobaOver 7,000 km fiber network | Province-wide Saskatchewan170+ communities, targeting 85% of SK by 2027 | Near-province-wide rural SKWhere infiNET not yet available |
| Farm & Acreage Focus | Built for rural properties from day oneFounded 2000 to serve rural — not urban-first expansion | Expanding town-by-town outwardAcreage coverage varies by location | Available where towers have signal |
| First Nations & Remote Communities | Core mission — bridging the digital divide in the Prairies | UBF-funded expansion$139M for northern/Indigenous communities | Available where cellular towers exist |
✱ Data sourced from rfnow.com, sasktel.com, and independent reviews as of 2025. SaskTel infiNET residential plans: download up to 940 Mbps, upload up to 500 Mbps; symmetrical plans on Business tiers. Pricing subject to change — verify with each provider. This table focuses on rural service options.
RFNOW is a independently owned fiber-to-the-home Internet provider serving rural communities across Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Founded in 2000, its mission was to connect rural Prairie communities with high-speed Internet services. RFNOW currently employs over 200 full-time employees, hired locally within the communities we service to handle all aspects of network deployment, installation and service.
Three Reasons Why Rural Customers Choose RFNOW
A Fiber Connection That Was Built for Rural Customers
SaskTel infiNET is a great product — but it was built outward from cities and towns. RFNOW started in Virden, Manitoba in 2000 with the single goal of bringing reliable Internet to rural communities that larger providers weren’t reaching. Every kilometre of our 7,000 km network was built to connect a farm, an acreage, First Nation community or a small rural community that would otherwise have no good options. See all the Prairie communities we cover here.
Truly Symmetrical Speeds — Not Just Fast Downloads
Upload speed is increasingly critical for rural life: video calls, remote work, cloud backups, farm management platforms, and telehealth appointments all need strong upload. RFNOW delivers the same speed up as down on every residential plan. SaskTel infiNET residential plans currently offer up to 940 Mbps download but cap at 500 Mbps upload, a meaningful gap if you run a business from home or farm, or rely on cloud platforms daily. And Fusion LTE technology isn’t comparable versus the speeds fiber offers.
Your Money Stays in Your Community
RFNOW employs over 200 people across Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Installers, technicians, and support staff who live in the same communities they serve. As an independent local company, RFNOW’s success is directly tied to the health of the rural communities it serves. When you pay your RFNOW bill, you’re not contributing to a Crown corporation’s provincial budget, you’re supporting a neighbour’s salary and a local company’s continued rural investment.
We compared every option available in our area. When we looked at reliability, fiber was the clear winner. Now I work from home without my video freezing every time it rains. The difference has been night and day for our family.
Fiber vs Fiber: RFNOW and SaskTel Both Have Fiber, How Do I Decide?
If you’re in an area served by both RFNOW and SaskTel infiNET, the technology differences are small. Here’s a balanced look at where each provider has a genuine edge.
Where RFNOW Has the Edge
✅ Fully symmetrical speeds at every tier
RFNOW’s residential plans deliver matching upload and download, while SaskTel infiNET residential plans cap upload at 500 Mbps vs 940 Mbps download.
✅ No introductory pricing surprises
SaskTel’s promotional rates can increase after contract expiry. RFNOW’s pricing is fully transparent.
✅ Dedicated bandwidth
RFNOW’s fiber is reserved for your home and is not shared in the same way as a large shared network.
✅Local teams that are in the Prairies
RFNOW employs 200 people who live where they work. Meaning we can dispatch people who are nearby and you can talk to people familiar with your community.
✅ Built for farms and acreages first
RFNOW has served rural markets since it inception in 2000. We know what it is like to install fiber Internet to farms and smaller communities.
Where SaskTel infiNET has the Edge
✔Broader Saskatchewan coverage
infiNET is in 170+ communities across Saskatchewan — RFNOW covers communities across southeastern Saskatchewan and western Manitoba.
✔Wireless bundle options
SaskTel can bundle Internet, TV, home phone and wireless, where RFNOW only has TV and home phone bundling options.
✔Crown Corporation accountability
As a provincially owned company, SaskTel has a public mandate to serve all Saskatchewan residents. RFNOW does it because wants to.
✔Long established company
SaskTel has served Saskatchewan for over a century and many people in the province have a longstanding relationship with the company.
Built for Rural Connections
RFNOW is a local business that has been connecting customers in Manitoba and Saskatchewan to the Internet for over 20 years. We were built to service rural residents with fast and reliable high-speed fiber internet.
Our network is always expanding. Check availability today. No commitment required. If we’re not in your area yet, let us know and we’ll let you know when we arrive.
Your Questions About RFNOW versus SaskTel Answered
Technology
Yes, at the core technology level, both are fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) services. Data travels as light through glass fiber cables directly to your home, providing low latency, high speeds, and weather-resilient connections. The differences are in speed tiers, symmetry, geographic focus, ownership model, and support structure — not in the fundamental technology.
SaskTel infiNET and Fusion are fundamentally different technologies. infiNET is fiber-optic cable run directly to your home — high speed, low latency, weatherproof. Fusion is a fixed wireless LTE service that beams a signal from a tower to an antenna at your home — limited to 5–10 Mbps, affected by weather and terrain, and dependent on tower capacity. SaskTel itself positions Fusion as the option for areas where infiNET hasn’t yet been built.
No, this is one of fiber’s core advantages over wireless. Fiber-optic cables carry data as pulses of light through glass. They are completely unaffected by cold temperatures, snow, ice, or electrical interference. Both RFNOW and SaskTel infiNET fiber connections maintain the same performance in February as in July. SaskTel Fusion, being wireless, is acknowledged by SaskTel to be affected by weather conditions.
Speed and Performance
RFNOW offers plans from 300 Mbps to 1 Gbps with fully symmetrical upload and download speeds. SaskTel infiNET offers up to 940 Mbps download and up to 500 Mbps upload on residential plans — competitive, but upload speeds are not fully symmetrical at this tier. SaskTel Fusion caps at 5–10 Mbps download. For most rural families, either fiber option is dramatically better than Fusion; the RFNOW vs infiNET comparison comes down to your specific needs for upload speed and which provider serves your exact address.
Yes, RFNOW residential plans are fully symmetrical, meaning your upload speed matches your download speed on every tier. This matters for video calls, remote work, cloud backups, farm data platforms, and telehealth. SaskTel infiNET residential plans offer download speeds up to 940 Mbps but upload up to 500 Mbps — not fully symmetrical, though still fast. SaskTel’s Business infiNET plans do offer symmetrical options.
RFNOW delivers dedicated bandwidth — your connection is not shared in a way that causes congestion at peak hours. SaskTel infiNET, while a shared network, has high enough capacity that most users won’t notice peak-hour variations. SaskTel Fusion customers have reported more noticeable evening slowdowns due to tower congestion, particularly in areas where towers are heavily subscribed.
Support and Service
RFNOW offers support 7 days a week through a local team embedded in the communities they serve. As an independent company with over 200 employees across Manitoba and Saskatchewan, technicians and support agents typically have direct knowledge of your area. SaskTel offers 24/7 technical support through a larger provincial call centre — a genuine advantage for late-night emergencies. The trade-off is that RFNOW’s local structure often means faster dispatch and more personalized service for on-site issues.
RFNOW is an independent, privately owned telecommunications company founded in Virden, Manitoba in 2000. It is not affiliated with any national carrier, Crown corporation, or major telecommunications company. With over 200 full and part-time employees, RFNOW operates its own 7,000 km fiber network across southeastern Saskatchewan and western Manitoba. SaskTel is a Saskatchewan Crown corporation, provincially owned and accountable to the province’s residents, with a mandate to serve all of Saskatchewan.
Switching and Coverage
Visit rfnow.com and use the address availability checker, or call 1-888-852-8030. RFNOW’s network is actively expanding in Saskatchewan. If service isn’t available at your address today, you can register interest and be notified when your area becomes eligible.
The strongest reasons are: (1) Geography: if RFNOW serves your exact rural address and SaskTel infiNET does not reach your farm or acreage, the choice is clear. (2) Fully symmetrical speeds at every residential tier. (3) Local independent ownership: your money supports a company rooted in rural Manitoba and Saskatchewan, with local staff in your community.
Yes. RFNOW was founded with the explicit goal of closing the digital divide in rural Canada. The company actively serves First Nations communities, farms, acreages, and small towns — the communities that are most likely to be last in line for large-carrier expansion. RFNOW considers these communities core customers, not edge cases.
Join others who’ve decided to switch to rural fiber Internet that is supported by rural folks just like you. See if you are in our coverage area.