Robi Maddison Tech 07.08.2022 23:Jul PM EDT

Rogers, Canada's Biggest Telecommunications Company, Experiences Major Outage

(Photo : Pexels/ Photo by Miguel Á. Padriñán)

Due to an outage, Rogers Communications, the biggest telecommunications provider in Canada, and its subsidiary Fido have been dealing with serious service disruptions since early Friday.

Rogers Communications' Outage

On July 8, services went down at an early hour, but Rogers didn't acknowledge the problem until around 9 am ET, as per PC Gamer. Sadly, the main reason for the issue is still unknown; all that is stated on the Rogers website is that the company is experiencing a network outage and are trying to restore services as quickly as possible.

It is still unclear what is causing it and how big the current outage is.

The Impact of the Outage Is Broad

Citing a Global News report, PC Gamer noted that ATMs and Interac machines have also been disrupted by the outage. Additionally, emergency service calls were affected. At 6:31 AM, Toronto Police said that there were some 911 connection issues. Two hours later, it announced that although its 911 contact center was open, though some Rogers network users might experience connectivity issues, Engadget reported.

Furthermore, at roughly 5AM, an Ontario-based CBC radio station lost its broadcast signal. According to Service Canada, the situation has also damaged its facilities, including crowded passport offices.

PC Gamer mentioned that the other two main telecom providers in Canada, Bell and Telus, have each asserted that the Rogers outage has no effect on their services. Bell mobile service, which is also offline, is also experiencing large spikes in outage reports, according to Downdetector.ca. The news outlet added Bell's Wifi hotspot performance has also been unusually poor and unpredictable.

What Does Canada's Authorities Say About the Outage

The Communications Security Establishment, Canada's national cybersecurity organization, stated that it has spoken with Rogers and "offered assistance," should it be required.

The Canadian telecommunications industry is heavily regulated, and there is no real competition, as noted by PC Gamer. There are other internet service providers in the nation, although they mostly serve very small segments of the population. Smaller mobile carriers like Fido, Chatr, and Koodo are owned by bigger companies.

Widespread and unpredicted consequences have resulted from the loss of Rogers service, including the inability of some travelers to access services needed to re-enter the country, Rogers customers' inability to contact emergency services, and even the closure of Toronto wading pools due to the lack of service.

This Is Not the First Major Outage of Rogers

A separate Global News report said that in April 2021, Rogers experienced an outage, which it later claimed was brought on by a software update that didn't go as planned.

Voice calls, SMS, and data services were unavailable to its users as a result of the early-morning outages. The disruptions had no effect on TV, home and business wireline Internet, or home phone services. The communications company claimed that Fido users were also impacted by the outage. Police in Ontario warned people not to hang up while dialing 911 during the outage because their communicators couldn't be used to call back.

The majority of that failure, which lasted for the most of a day, was located in Ontario, the country's most populous province.