Canada outage leaves many without mobile, internet service

AP

Toronto, July 9

A widespread network outage left many Canadians without mobile and internet service for most of Friday, disrupting police, business and court services as crowds flocked to work at coffee shops with Wi-Fi.

Rogers Communications Inc said it started restoring service late in the day and that its teams “are working hard to get everyone back online as quickly as possible”.

The outage began early in the morning and stretched into the evening, interrupting services across retailers and credit card processors, police and courts, airlines and train networks.

The company offered no explanation for what caused the outage, how many customers were impacted or where they were located.

"We know how much you rely on our networks. Today we have let you down. We are working to make this right as quickly as we can. We will continue to keep you updated, including when services will be back online."        

Toronto's Go Transit said in a tweet that parts of its system were affected by the outage and fares could not be purchased using debit or credit cards. E-tickets might also be unavailable, it warned.

Police in Toronto and Ottawa warned of connection problems when Canadians called 911.

"If your call fails, please try again, or call from a landline or cellphone with another provider," Ottawa Police said on Twitter.

The outage forced the postponement of The Weeknd's tour stop at Toronto's Rogers Centre.

The Toronto date was one of only two set for Canada.

Scarborough Health Network, which operates three hospitals and eight satellite sites in Toronto, requested physicians and staff to head to their workplaces for any on-call shifts until the disruption is resolved.

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