SaltWire E-Edition

About 10 per cent of Bell towers damaged

Other telecoms have declined interviews about their networks following Fiona

STU NEATBY THE GUARDIAN stu.neatby @theguardian.pe.ca @Peiguardian

Bell Canada has confirmed that at least six cell towers in P.E.I. – about 10 per cent of that telecom’s network – remain damaged due to posttropical storm Fiona.

In an interview with Saltwire Network on Oct. 2, Glen Leblanc, Bell Canada’s chief financial officer, also confirmed that the vast majority of Bell’s core cellular network is intact and said the Bell network weathered the unprecedented storm “exceptionally well.”

“The damage from this storm is the most severe physical infrastructure damage that Bell has ever experienced anywhere in Canada," Leblanc said.

Leblanc also acknowledged the utility has “not done a good enough job” of explaining ongoing mobility outages to customers. Bell Aliant posted detailed updates of outages throughout the region on its website over the weekend.

But Leblanc said the towers, whose damage could include bent antennas or other structural issues, are not operating at pre-storm capacity.

"That's going to lead to dropped calls, that's going to lead to slower data experiences, a degradation of cellular service," Leblanc told Saltwire.

Bell, like all other mobility companies, has also seen power outages affect its mobility towers. Bell Aliant has said all of its towers were equipped with back-up power batteries in case of outages. But as outages have ground on in P.E.I., many have had to switch generators.

As of Oct. 1, the Bell Aliant website was reporting the communities of Alberton, Charlottetown, Clyde River, Montague, O’leary, Souris, St. Felix, Summerside and Vernon River could face service disruptions due to antenna issues on mobility towers.

Telus customers also rely on the Bell mobility network in P.E.I., Leblanc said.

Leblanc said the core 911 network in P.E.I. remained intact during post-tropical storm Fiona but also said some customers may have struggled to access it in the initial hours and days after the storm.

Throughout Atlantic Canada, Leblanc confirmed 138 mobility towers lost power. Today, 49 of those are still damaged, including the six to seven in P.E.I.

Since the storm hit the region, customers and consumer advocates have criticized mobility providers for the service disruptions as well as the lack of detail about the degree of outages in the region.

Saltwire has been requesting interviews with Rogers and Eastlink staff or executives since Sept. 26. Neither have made staff available.

In an email, a representative from Eastlink said none

of their mobility infrastructure sustained physical damage. Most outages, the email said, were due to ongoing power outages.

An emailed statement sent from Rogers stated all sites in P.E.I. have been restored but said “about a quarter” of Rogers sites were still running on generators.

CRTC ‘SOFT-PEDALLING’ OUTAGE REPORTING: ADVOCATE

John Lawford, executive director of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, said Canada’s federal regulators should follow the lead of U.S. authorities.

He said the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has been “soft-pedalling” attempts to ensure telecoms are more transparent about outages.

He said this is becoming more urgent due to climate change.

"More and more of these storms come through and people need to at least know how long it's going to be," Lawford said of the outages.

"We don't know if the telcos are doing everything they can do. And we have no reporting after the fact."

Lawford said U.S. regulators require telecoms in that country to provide regular reports of outages during extreme weather events. The Federal Communications Commission’s website contains detailed reports of mobility outages throughout Florida in the wake of Hurricane Ian, including countyby-county details of outages.

In other jurisdictions, Lawford said mobility companies have deployed “phone blimps” or flatbed trucks equipped with cell towers to provide temporary service in populated areas. He said Canadian regulators lack oversight to ensure telecoms are doing all they can to prevent outages.

While most of mobility service in P.E.I. has been restored, Leblanc said a completely storm-proof telecommunications network is not possible.

“There will never be a network that we can build that can withstand a direct strike of a hurricane of this magnitude," Leblanc said.

THE ISLAND

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2022-10-04T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-10-04T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://saltwire.pressreader.com/article/281535114877634

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