Telecom giant's network outage impacts cellphones, internet in Canada

A huge network outage of Canadian telecom giant Rogers caused problems with mobile services and internet connectivity nationwide since Friday morning, local media reported.

The outage affected banking services, 911, passport offices and Canada's ArriveCAN app which is used for border control. Rogers confirmed that the outages are currently affecting its wirelines and wireless networks but the reason behind is still unknown.

"We acknowledge the impact our outage is having on your life. We have every technical resource and partner fully deployed to solve the problem. As soon as we know the specific time the Networks will be fully operational, we will share that with you. Right now, we are focused on the solution," the telecom giant said in a statement published on Twitter.

"Some of our customers have raised the question of credits and of course we will be proactively crediting all customers and will share more information soon," the statement added.

Bell, another telecom giant, said its network is operating properly, but Bell customers may be experiencing issues when trying to call or text Rogers subscribers.

Telus issued a similar statement, saying the network outage affecting Rogers customers is not impacting TELUS Internet, home phone or wireless infrastructure.

The country's telecom sector is dominated by the three large carriers: Rogers, Bell and Telus. Rogers is the largest wireless services provider, with about 11.3 million subscribers across the country, Xinhua news agency reported.

Experts said more competition should be introduced into this concentrated wireless services market, where the Big Three serve approximately 87 per cent of Canadian subscribers, the report added.

( With inputs from ANI )