Last Friday, Rogers experienced a major network outage nationwide that affected a range of services, from landline and cell phone coverage to the Internet and television.
Not only were people unable to make calls, including 911 calls in some cases, customers had trouble making debit purchases and accessing Canada’s ArriveCan app, which is required to enter the country.
The company says it has restored services to the “vast majority” of its customers, although reports of continued outages and poor connections persisted over the weekend.
That’s what we know so far about Rogers ’interruption.
WHEN DID IT BEGIN?
The outage began early Friday morning, with online service istheservicedown.ca tracking Roger’s problems as early as 4:40 a.m. EDT, with initial reports from Ontario.
Rogers confirmed shortly before 9 a.m. EDT on Twitter that he was aware of the issues affecting the network.
At approximately 11:30 a.m. EDT, Rogers said the outage had spread through its networks and wireless.
On Friday evening, Rogers said he had begun to see his wireless services back online.
On Saturday, Rogers president and CEO Tony Staffieri told CTV news channel that “close to 100%” of the company’s network had returned online, with “less than one percent” of customers still with “intermittent problems.”
Some customers reported ongoing issues over the weekend, including Sunday.
HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE THE SIZE AFFECTED?
Rogers has not revealed how many customers were affected by the outage.
However, the UK-based organization NetBlocks, which oversees cybersecurity, said the disruption removed a quarter of Canada’s observable connectivity.
Rogers had nearly 11.3 million wireless subscribers and more than 2.6 million Internet subscribers in 2021, according to the company’s annual report that year.
Calls and text messages between Bell customers or other vendors were not affected, the company said. CTV News is a division of Bell Media. Telus also issued a similar statement.
However, customers of these and other providers reported that they had trouble contacting those in the Rogers network.
Cafes across Canada were also flooded with Rogers customers looking for free Wi-Fi. Many Rogers customers have criticized Rogers for his lack of communication at first about the cause of the outage and when services were expected to return.
With the disruption that also toppled Interac’s services, companies struggled to receive payments from customers, who in the end were forced to withdraw cash.
Financial institutions such as TD Canada Trust, BMO and Royal Bank said the outage had disrupted their operations.
Government agencies such as Service Canada and the Tax Agency of Canada reported interruptions to their phone lines.
Public transportation systems, such as Metrolinx of Ontario, also reported problems with paying fares.
Hospitals reported problems with their telephone systems, and the Scarborough health network in Ontario asked doctors and on-call staff to come to the hospital physically.
At the end of Friday’s trading day, Rogers shares were down 73 cents to $ 61.54 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, Reuters reported.
WHAT CAUSED THE LENGTH?
Saffieri said a “network system failure” after a “maintenance upgrade” on the company’s main network was to blame for the outage. He said in a statement Saturday that the update caused some routers to malfunction.
“We disconnected specific equipment and redirected traffic, which allowed our network and services to be back in line over time as we managed traffic volumes back to normal levels,” he said. .
Technology and cybersecurity analyst Ritesh Kotak told CTV News Channel on Monday that a mobile phone connects to a network through towers and a complex “backbone” communication infrastructure with routers and switches, which must be maintained.
“They were going to do an upgrade of one of those critical backbone systems that went terribly wrong and shut it all down from coast to coast,” he said.
On Friday, a spokesman for Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino confirmed to CTV News that the disruption was not due to a cyberattack.
Speaking to CTV news channel on Saturday, Kotak said that even before Rogers posted a statement about the cause of the disruption, he suspected a cyberattack was not the reason.
Kotak explained that the outage occurred early in the morning, which is usually when major updates occur, and also noted that this is not the first time something like this has happened to Rogers.
Rogers ’mobile network experienced a similar all-day service outage in April 2021, which the company also blamed on a software update.
WHAT ARE THEY DONE?
Saffieri and other telecoms leaders will meet with Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne to talk about improving “the reliability of networks across Canada,” a statement from the minister’s office said.
This meeting is expected to take place virtually on Monday.
Rogers said he will also “automatically pay all customers proactively” through their accounts.
However, it remains to be seen how exactly customers will be reimbursed.
In his first quarterly report for 2022, Rogers said his average monthly income per wireless user was $ 57.25. Assuming customers receive a two-day credit for the outage it would only amount to a total of approximately $ 3.82.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission confirmed on Friday that it has received and is reviewing a request from the Center for the Defense of the Nonprofit Public Interest to initiate an investigation under the Telecommunications Act.
The Montreal-based law firm LPC Avocat announced Monday that it has sought authorization to file a class action lawsuit against the telecommunications company.
The lawsuit is asking for $ 200 for affected customers on the grounds that Rogers allegedly violated Quebec’s consumer protection law by failing to offer “an essential service” on July 8 and 9.
The lawsuit also seeks an additional $ 200 for the Rogers’ claim that it has “Canada’s most reliable network,” alleging that this constitutes “false representation.”
All Rogers, Fido and Chatr Mobile customers who ran out of service on Friday or Saturday are covered by the action, as are all Quebec residents who were unable to make certain financial transactions (such as Interac payments and transfers electronic) as a result of the incident.
Meanwhile, the protracted disruption is raising questions about the need for more competition in Canada’s telecommunications industry.
It comes as Rogers is pursuing a $ 26 billion deal to buy Shaw Communications Inc., something the Canadian Competition Bureau is currently fighting.
With files from CTV News, The Canadian Press, Reuters and Rhythm Sachdeva from CTVnews.ca