Bell CEO says company working toward speedier repairs after powerful storms

The president and CEO of Bell Canada blamed cellular network outages in Nova Scotia on intense storms and said the company is working toward speedier repair times in the future.

Speaking at a Halifax Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Wednesday, Mirko Bibic said a key takeaway from Hurricane Fiona last year was to warn customers to be prepared in advance. After Fiona, there were widespread network outages in Nova Scotia when cellphone transmission towers sustained significant damage.

"The key is to be in a position to repair as fast as possible, to have generators to keep networks running while the power is out," Bibic said. 

"So there's two things — no network can withstand these types of weather events, and two, no network will work without power. So if the power is out, your communications network will also not work."

Bibic said the company spends about $200 million a year on resiliency, which includes storm remediation. 

As an example, he said Bell Aliant spent $10 million to buy 100 generators for major cell towers to keep service going when the power is out. He said that's why there were fewer cell outages during post-tropical storm Lee last month.

Prepping for future storms

He said the company started a three-year, $30-million program to install 150 more generators "to support critical wire lines" in the region "to keep those sites up, even when the power is out."

Bell and other telecom companies have faced criticism in the past for the time it has taken to restore networks.

Following post-tropical storm Lee, a campground on Nova Scotia's South Shore went about 12 days without phone or internet service.

The previous year, after Fiona, Premier Tim Houston blasted the telecom companies for not being more involved with provincial co-ordination efforts. Since that time, the telecom companies have taken a more active role in working with the province.