Phone and internet service restoration still a priority in P.E.I. after Fiona
Nine days after Hurricane Fiona battered Prince Edward Island, tens of thousands remain without power, but with so many downed lines, electricity isn’t the only thing that needs to be fixed.
Phone and internet connections have been severed for many as well. Just after the storm, many parts of the island were completely without service.
Restoration work has been going on since shortly after the storm passed. Some of that early work was focused on restoring power to cell towers.
Bell Canada's President and CEO joined other senior leaders in getting a first-hand look at the damage today.
“This is the largest hurricane to hit Canada,” said Glen LeBlanc, BCE and Bell Canada Chief Financial Officer and Vice Chair, Atlantic Canada. “I spoke to a technician here in P.E.I. today who’s been with us 47 years, and the extent of the damage is unprecedented.”
Some never lost cell service. The main tower in Charlottetown has a pair of emergency generators, and they power the core of Bell telecom infrastructure on the island in case of a power outage.
Without them, phone and internet from the Bell network would have been down for the whole island.
Spotty coverage in the network after the storm was caused mainly by a lack of power to 138 of the company’s 1,100 towers.
“At the height of the storm, we would’ve had materially more sites out because they lost power,” said LeBlanc. “The very first step is the restoration of power, so once we're cleared by the power corporation that it’s safe for our technicians to enter, they will begin starting generators, and that’s why cellular service comes up fairly rapidly.”
There are still about 49 towers damaged by the storm which aren’t yet at 100 per cent, mainly sustaining damage to the antenna or fibre optic cables at the sites.
The major bottleneck in phone and internet restoration now is power restoration. Trees need to be cleared and line crews need to assess and repair damage before telecommunications workers can start their jobs.
“The fact that we were able to bring as many people back online as fast as we had is remarkable,” said LeBlanc. “Again, thanks to our people.”
At the supper hour, 20,000 homes and businesses on P.E.I. were still without electricity.
The majority of those are expected to have power back by Monday night, but some with significant damage will be out even longer.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'It could be catastrophic': Woman says natural supplement contained hidden painkiller drug
A Manitoba woman thought she found a miracle natural supplement, but said a hidden ingredient wreaked havoc on her health.
After hearing thousands of last words, this hospital chaplain has advice for the living
Hospital chaplain J.S. Park opens up about death, grief and hearing thousands of last words, and shares his advice for the living.
WHO likely to issue wider alert on contaminated cough syrup
The World Health Organization is likely to issue a wider warning about contaminated Johnson and Johnson-made children's cough syrup found in Nigeria last week, it said in an email.
WATCH Video shows dramatic police takedown of carjacking suspects chased through parking lot north of Toronto
Police have released video footage of a dramatic takedown of a group of teens wanted in connection with an attempted carjacking in Markham earlier this month.
Canada, G7 urge 'all parties' to de-escalate in growing Mideast conflict
Canada called for 'all parties' to de-escalate rising tensions in the Mideast following an apparent Israeli drone attack against Iran overnight.
'It was all my savings': Ontario woman loses $15K to fake Walmart job scam
A woman who recently moved to Canada from India was searching for a job when she got caught in an online job scam and lost $15,000.
Families to receive Canada Child Benefit payment on Friday
More money will land in the pockets of some Canadian families on Friday for the latest Canada Child Benefit installment.
After COVID, WHO defines disease spread 'through air'
The World Health Organization and around 500 experts have agreed for the first time on what it means for a disease to spread through the air, in a bid to avoid the confusion early in the COVID-19 pandemic that some scientists have said cost lives.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.