Rogers network outage across Canada hits banks, businesses and

General view of the Rogers Building, quarters of Rogers Communications in Toronto, Ontario, Canada October 22, 2021. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio

TORONTO/OTTAWA, July 8 (Reuters) – A major network outage at one of Canada’s biggest telecom operators shut banking, transport and government access for thousands on Friday after the second widespread disruption to hit Rogers Telecommunications Inc (RCIb.TO) in a little over a year.

Nearly every facet of life was disrupted. Canadians who typically work from home crowded into cafes and public libraries that still offered internet access. Air Canada (AC.TO), the country’s largest airline, said its call center was affected. Retailers’ cashless pay systems went down, while banks reported issues with ATM services.

The interruption, which began around 4:30 a.m. ET (0830 GMT), added to concerns about competition in the industry and drew fresh criticism from customers about a lack of access to other providers.

“Today we have let you down. We are working to make this right as quickly as we can,” Rogers said in a statement. “Our technical teams are working to restore our services alongside our global technology partners, and are making progress.”

Rogers did not say when service might be restored.

With about 10 million wireless subscribers and 2.25 million retail internet subscribers, Rogers is the top provider in Ontario. Along with BCE Inc (BCE.TO) and Telus Corp (T.TO), Rogers controls 90% of the market share in Canada.

Downdetector, which tracks outages by collating status reports from a number of sources, showed reports of outages starting from 4:30 a.m. ET, topping off at more than 20,000 users by 7 a.m. ET (1100 GMT). The reports dropped to around 7,700 by 2:30 p.m. ET (1830 GMT).

Canadian financial institutions and banks including Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) and Bank Of Montreal (BMO.TO) said the outage had disrupted its services. Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) said its ATM and online banking services were affected.

The disruption also made transport and flight bookings more difficult at the height of the summer travel season.

A spokesperson for Vancouver International airport, among Canada’s busiest, said travelers could not pay for parking, use terminal ATM machines or purchase items at airport retailers due to lost internet access.

Air Canada (AC.TO) did not say how its contact center had been affected, but said it was working urgently to resolve the issue. Airlines in Canada, like those in Europe and the United States, have been experiencing high call volume due to flight cancellations and delays due to pandemic staffing shortages. read more

COMPETITION

Critics said the outage demonstrated a need for more competition in the telecom sector.

Earlier this year,…