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A significant number of individuals in the northwest region of British Columbia faced connectivity issues on Monday due to an attempted theft of copper cables essential for Telus operations in the area.
The service disruption commenced around 3 a.m. on Monday and impacted a vast area spanning from Burns Lake near Prince George to Terrace, Prince Rupert, and Haida Gwaii.
According to a spokesperson, the incident occurred in the vicinity of Sheraton, B.C., approximately 20 kilometers east of Burns Lake, where thieves tried to pilfer the cables, leading to the severing of fiber lines and subsequent service failures including internet, phone calls, text messaging, home phones, and 911 services.
The outage persisted throughout most of Monday, with full service restoration confirmed shortly after 6 p.m. PT by a company representative who expressed gratitude for the patience of customers and the prompt repair efforts by crews.
In order to facilitate continued communication, an alternate carrier was engaged for emergency mobile phone services; however, data, internet, and landline services remained inaccessible, while text messaging services were sporadic.
With few alternative providers in the region, many individuals found their daily routines disrupted, particularly affecting businesses reliant on internet connectivity for point-of-sale operations.
In Prince Rupert, the inability to make electronic payments due to the outage caused inconvenience for patrons of local establishments, including a large cruise ship docked in the area.
Authorities in Burns Lake were alerted to the situation after receiving reports of cut lines before 9:30 a.m. PT and have initiated an investigation into the incident.
Emergency Services Adapt to Backup Systems
During the outage, 21 sites operated by Northern Health were impacted, although acute care and major health facilities maintained connectivity through Starlink satellite internet as a backup contingency.
Most inbound and outbound calling to Northern Health facilities continued uninterrupted, except in Burns Lake where calls were temporarily rerouted to Prince George to ensure prompt responses.
B.C. Emergency Health Services assured that paramedics maintained connectivity for emergency responses using cellular and satellite phones.
CBC News contacted emergency service providers to ascertain how they managed alerts for emergencies, such as earthquakes and tsunamis, during the outage.
Continuing Challenge of Copper Theft
This incident underscores the ongoing issue of copper theft, a problem that has been escalating according to the Canadian Telecommunications Association, resulting in widespread service disruptions like the recent one in northwest British Columbia.
B.C. Hydro also expressed concern over the increasing incidents of copper theft, which have impacted their operations in over 20 instances within the past two years.
