Alberta’s auditor general warns lax oversight of high-speed wireless contracts could be costly

Alberta’s auditor general says the government has been failing to make sure taxpayers get value for money spent on contracts to run the province’s $1-billion SuperNet.

The SuperNet is a network that delivers high-speed wireless to big cities and rural areas, and the government has subcontracted the service to private providers.

Doug Wylie, in his first report as auditor general, says Service Alberta has not been diligent enough in keeping track of disruptions and in making sure providers deliver key financial data on service fees and network usage.

He also says there have been unresolved disputes with providers on some contract specifics.

Wylie says the department never resolved those problems, and renewed its contract for five years despite concerns that taxpayers might not be getting the best deal.

The contracts cost Albertans about $56 million a year.

Watch below: (From April 2018) Merwan Saher released his final report as Alberta’s auditor general. As Tom Vernon explains, he wants to see a cultural change on how Albertans view the budget.

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© 2018 The Canadian Press

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