Widespread communications outage plagues Yellowknife

A widespread communications outage has left much of Yellowknife and surrounding communities without phone, internet and TV services.

In an email around 9:30 a.m. local time, Northwestel said customers should be prepared to be without service for "at least several hours" as technicians work to "repair infrastructure."

An operations centre representative said it could be six to eight hours before repairs are complete, meaning phone and internet may not be available until the evening. 

It is not immediately clear what caused the outage. The communities of Whati and Behchoko are also affected, Northwestel said.

RCMP advise people to seek their local detachment in person in cases of emergency if the emergency number cannot be reached.