OTTAWA/TORONTO — After a 19-hour service outage at one of Canada’s largest telecom operators cut off access to banking, transportation, and government services for millions of people, sparking outrage from customers and escalating criticism over its market dominance, Rogers Telecommunications said its network was starting to recover late on Friday.
Almost all aspects of life have been affected by the outage, which has affected landline, mobile, and internet phone connections. Police across Canada reported that some callers were unable to reach emergency services through 911 calls.
Canadians swarmed into internet-equipped cafes and public libraries and waited outside hotels to pick up a signal. The mobile app for incoming travelers was affected by the outage, according to Canada’s border services agency. Banks reported problems with ATM services, and retailers’ cashless payment systems failed.
In a statement posted to Twitter, Rogers stated that “our wireless services are starting to recover” and that staff members are working to get customers back online as soon as possible.
Rogers President and Chief Executive Officer Tony Staffieri expressed regret for the outage in a separate statement posted on the company’s website, saying: “Today we let you down. We can improve and we will.
He continued, “We will continue to share information with our customers as we restore full services, but we do not have a timeline for when the networks will be fully restored.”
Customers who were impacted would receive a credit, he claimed.
Friday night, a spokesman for Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said that the outage was not caused by a cyberattack.
On the Toronto Stock Exchange, Rogers’ shares closed down 73 cents at C$61.54 ($47.53).
At the height of the summer travel season, the disruption made it more challenging to book a flight or a mode of transportation.
According to spokesperson Sau Liu, Transport Canada has not yet received reports of any direct safety or security impacts to any flights, marine, or rail services as a result of this outage.
This was Rogers’ second interruption in 15 months. According to the monitoring company NetBlocks, it started at 4:30 a.m. ET (0830 GMT) and disrupted 25% of Canada’s observable internet connectivity.
In Ontario, Canada’s most populous province and the location of its largest city, Toronto, Rogers is the leading provider with roughly 10 million wireless subscribers and 2.25 million retail internet subscribers. 90% of the market share in Canada is under the control of Rogers, BCE Inc., and Telus Corp.
In a tweet, François-Philippe Champagne, Canada’s minister of industry, referred to the situation as “unacceptable” and stated that he was in contact with telecom CEOs, including those from Rogers, Bell, and Telus, to come up with a solution.
The outage, according to Canadian banks and financial institutions like Toronto-Dominion Bank and Bank of Montreal, disrupted services. The Royal Bank of Canada reported issues with its online banking and ATM services.
According to a spokesperson for Vancouver International Airport, one of the busiest in Canada, visitors are unable to pay for parking, use the terminal’s ATMs, or make purchases at the airport’s shops.
The biggest airline in the nation, Air Canada, reported call center issues. Due to widespread staffing shortages, Canadian airlines have been dealing with a high call volume in addition to flight delays and cancellations.
The Weeknd, a pop singer, announced on Friday night that his concert at the Rogers Centre stadium had been postponed because of a service outage that was affecting venue operations.
“I’m devastated and crushed. Been at the venue all day, but the Rogers outage has taken it out of our hands, the singer tweeted.
COMPETITION
Critics claimed that the outage proved that the telecom industry required more competition.
The Canadian Competition Bureau earlier this year rejected Rogers’ attempt to acquire rival Shaw Communications in a C$20 billion deal, claiming that it would restrict competition in a nation where telecom rates are among the highest in the world. A decision regarding the merger is still pending.
Anthony Lacavera, managing director of Globealive, an investment company that had made a bid for a wireless provider involved in the Rogers/Shaw merger, said that today’s outage “illustrates the need for more independent competition that will drive more network investment so outages are far less likely.”
Some government organizations, including Canada’s passport offices and the telecoms regulator, suspended operations on Friday as a result of losing internet access. The organization in charge of collecting taxes in the nation, Canada Revenue Agency, lost phone service.
Cash is going to rule.
Toronto stores and eateries post “Cash Only” signs on their doors. Locals gathered inside and outside a Starbucks coffee shop that was close by and had unaffected free Wi-Fi.
Ken Rosenstein, a Starbucks patron, observed that “there are tons of people here with their laptops just working away ferociously, the same as they would at home, because they have no service there.”
Tim Hortons and other cafes in downtown Ottawa, Canada’s capital, refused to accept debit and credit cards and customers without cash.
Cash will most certainly be king at many stores today, according to Retail Council of Canada spokeswoman Michelle Wasylyshen, who noted that outages would vary from one retailer to the next.
