Cut fibre line causes six hour comms outage in Nunavut

Northwestel customers in Nunavut faced a six hour-long outage Aug.1 to broadband data, cellular service, long distance calling and television service after a British Columbia-based fibre line was cut mid-day.

If Nunavummiut happen to forget how vulnerable the territory’s communications systems can be, Aug. 1 offered a good reminder.

That’s when Northwestel customers across the three territories faced a six hour-long outage to broadband data, cellular service, long distance calling and television service after a British Columbia-based fibre line was cut midday.

Northwestel said a contracted construction crew in northern British Columbia accidentally cut the line while doing other work the same day.

While Northwestel provides services to its Nunavut customers by satellite, some information is transported to the south through a hub in Whitehorse.

The line cut left Nunavut communities off-line through the afternoon.

The Nunavut RCMP asked residents to show up in person at their local police detachment or at local officers’ residences if unable to report emergencies by phone.

But the RCMP did not report any incidents as a result of the outage.

Services were restored the same day just before 7 p.m. EST.

Asked about measures to prevent potential future outages, Northwestel said the company “[continues] work with our government partners to strengthen out northern network.”