Internet outage resolved for P.E.I. government services

Email, processing systems affected

Image | Internet computer

Caption: Government technicians are investigating the source of the problem. (Shutterstock)

A widespread internet outage in the P.E.I. government network caused problems on Tuesday.
The network went down at 11 p.m. Monday. Email for most government employees and processing systems at government offices was affected. The issue was resolved shortly after 3 p.m.
In a news release, the province said the issues was caused by a broken fibre.
Access PEI was unable to get online. An email statement from the department said staff worked around the problem as much as possible.
"Anything to do with a payment is not occurring, but staff are helping clients do online services using the client's phone. They are still doing driving tests, but not issuing/printing driving licenses," the email said.

Healthcare slower than normal

All hospitals and health care centres also dealt with the outage, and had to go to a manual, paper-based system of recording and ordering.
A Health PEI spokesperson said there is a regular protocol for this type of situation that is a part of planning for emergency situations. That system is tested on a regular basis.