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
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
WATCH LIVE As GC Strategies partner is admonished by MPs, RCMP confirms search warrant executed
The RCMP confirmed Wednesday it had executed a search warrant at an address registered to GC Strategies. This development comes as MPs are enacting an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power, summoning one of its contractors to appear before the House of Commons to be admonished publicly for failing to answer questions related to the ArriveCan app.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Disappointment widespread over budget's proposed $200-month disability benefit funding
Advocacy groups across Canada are expressing widespread disappointment about the amount of funding earmarked in the 2024 federal budget for the long-awaited Canada Disability Benefit.
Former Sask. massage therapist who sexually assaulted clients has day parole revoked
A former massage therapist who pleaded guilty to a string of sexual assaults has had his day parole revoked.