How the Rogers internet outage affected Waterloo, Wellington
Service began coming back online Friday night after day-long blackout
The collapse of Canada-wide mobile and internet service from Rogers affected city and regional telecommunication services around Kitchener-Waterloo and Wellington County on Friday.
And after many months of not wanting to handle cash during the pandemic, many shops went immediately to cash-only operations when debit and credit machines went offline.
Waterloo regional police said the outage might have prevented people calling 911 or the non-emergency line. Police recommended calling from a landline or cellphone with another provider. Service spokesperson Andre Johnson said people had not been misusing 911 services to report the outage.
City offices
The City of Kitchener tweeted phone lines were down for the city's contact centre and Kitchener Utilities centre.
The City of Waterloo said phone lines and online services experienced technical issues as well.
The City of Cambridge said it experienced technical issues with its online services. The city said debit and credit payments went down as well.
The Region of Waterloo said its online services were affected.
The City of Guelph said their phones were working but people calling may have experienced delays.
Wellington Dufferin Guelph Public Health said websites and phone lines went down.
Real-time departure time information at Grand River Transit were not available, but all trip planning tools provided scheduled departure times.
Region of Waterloo Waste management only accepted cash at their transfer stations in Waterloo and Cambridge as a result of the outage.
Sexual assault support and crisis centres
The region's Sexual Assualt Support Centre said in a tweet the outage caused delays to their 24-hour support line.
The centre added that a majority of appointments were not able to take place until the issue was resolved. Anyone in need of immediate support could still call the centre's office.
Women's Crisis Services of Waterloo region said they also experienced technical difficulties with their crisis support lines and online chat.
Libraries also affected
Library branches across the region also were impacted by the Rogers internet outage.
Waterloo Public Library (WPL) said in a tweet Friday that Wi-Fi and computer access were not available at any branch. That included public computers and their online catalog.
WPL locations were open and phones were working, the tweet adds.
All Kitchener Public library locations remained open and in-person programming continued, the library said in a tweet, but it did not have internet or Wi-Fi available.
Idea Exchange in Cambridge said internet and Wi-Fi access was not available. Phone lines remained working and staff were still able to check out items.
- WATCH | Here's a look at how Friday's outage is affecting services right across Canada
Local cabs and taxis hotspotting
A United Taxi representative told CBC News that its cab drivers were hotspotting their phones to help bring their Interac debit payment machines back online.
The representative said they also had not been able to take calls for several hours in the early morning but that largely their phone service remained operational Friday.
Waterloo Taxi was able to accept bookings for rides, however drivers only accepted cash or credit for payment. Debit payment for them was down.
City Cabs' phone lines went completely offline.
Universities, schools
The University of Waterloo's Stratford locations were completely offline. In a tweet, the university confirmed Interac and credit payment options had been affected.
Eduroam, which helps university staff access roaming services, was not impacted.
Wilfrid Laurier University experienced an internet outage at 120 Duke Street.
The public school board's summer school students were assigned "asynchronous work" during the outage.
In a tweet, WRDSB said students should log into their virtual classrooms to participate. Secondary student assessments were cancelled for Friday.
Hospitals
St. Mary's General Hospital said it experienced some communication issues because of the outage. The hospital tweeted it could still receive calls through its main line.
The hospital said anyone who was dropping off or picking up a patient should call the hospital to provide a non-Rogers phone number to be contacted.
Cambridge Memorial Hospital said it had no in-bound or out-bound phone services.
Grand River Hospital remained unaffected by the Rogers outage.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
