Comment A network outage at one of Canada’s telecommunications giants has knocked out cellphone and internet service across the country for hours since Friday, affecting homes, businesses, ATMs and 911 emergency lines. Canadians flocked to coffee shops for WiFi. Banks reported problems with their payment systems and retailers put up “cash only” signs. Netblocks, a monitoring group, said the outage at Rogers Communications began Friday morning and knocked out a quarter of the nation’s network connectivity. He said early Saturday that Internet service was “gradually being restored.” Canada Revenue Agency lost phone service. The country’s largest airline, Air Canada, reported technical problems at call centres. Even Canada’s telecommunications regulator said its phone lines were affected. In the city of Winnipeg, police asked Rogers users who need to call 911 to try to find landlines or phones on another network in the event of an emergency. Rogers Communications said late Friday that it had “made significant progress” toward restoring service, but that it could not say when networks would be fully restored. “Many of our wireless customers are starting to see service return,” company president Tony Staffieri said in the statement. “I want to sincerely apologize for this service disruption and the impact it is having on people from coast to coast.” It was the second outage at the provider in just over a year. Critics pointed to Friday’s shutdown as evidence that there should be more competition in Canada’s telecommunications industry. Rogers, which has more than 11 million wireless subscribers, is one of three companies that dominate the Canadian market. Canada’s Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne called the situation “unacceptable” and said overnight that he had conveyed to Rogers’ chief executive “the frustration of millions of Canadians.” With government services failing, including the passport office, Conservative MP Michelle Rebel Garner said the latest shutdown showed the potential “national vulnerability” due to limited competition. Gordon Burton, who was attending a music festival over the weekend, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. that he had deposited some cash to spend on his card but could no longer use it. “But maybe that’s not a bad thing,” he quipped. “I mean, I don’t think a cash-only system is the answer,” he added, “but it’s scary how quickly things can go down.” Vancouver International Airport said travelers could not pay for food or use ATMs in its terminals. A domestic airline in the north said it was unable to contact passengers for flight updates. The disruption also prompted a Toronto health care network to ask doctors on call Friday to “physically come to the hospital for the shift.” Meanwhile, at a venue in the city, a disappointed crowd remained outside after the Weeknd’s concert was postponed at the last minute due to the shutdown. “I’m devastated and heartbroken,” the Canadian singer tweeted Friday night. “We’ve been on site all day, but it’s out of our hands due to the Rogers outage.”
