UPDATE—In an attempt from thieves trying to steal copper cables, they cut through Telus’s fiber optic line. Telus used specialized equipment to repair the extensive damage. Internet service resumed in the evening approximately at 5 pm.
Telus is reporting a widespread outage of its internet, phone and TV services in northwest B.C.
The company says it expected service to be restore by early Monday evening after thieves tried to steal some cables.
“Our technicians are actively working to repair the extensive damage caused by thieves, and we anticipate services will begin restoring for customers across the region between mid-afternoon into this evening,” said Telus Spokesperson Emily Piccinin
Telus is telling customers they can use their cell phones through the emergency roaming the company activated with another carrier, and 9-1-1 services remain available.
Landline service continues to be available to some customers in the affected communities.
E-Comm, which employees 911 call-takers, confirmed a backup system has been activated, allowing people in the affected areas to continue calling for emergency help.
Health officials said the outage has also impacted 21 health-care facilities across Burns Lake, Hazelton, Smithers, Terrace, Prince Rupert and Masset.
Acute care and major health facilities “maintain Starlink satellite internet services as a backup to local internet services,” however, and hospitals and regular health services remain open, Northern Health said in a statement.
Lakes District Hospital is unable to receive calls, which are being temporarily diverted to Prince George, officials said.
“Our team is working as quickly as possible, and we thank our customers for their patience,” said Piccinin.
With files from Andrew Weichel