(Bloomberg) — Rogers Communications Inc. apologized to customers after a major network failure shut down wireless and internet services, causing problems for payment systems, automated teller machines and phone connections in Canada.
The network collapse started early Friday morning and continued into the afternoon. The company gave no hints on the source of the problem but said it was making progress on solving it. “We know how much you rely on our networks. Today we have let you down,” the company said on Twitter at 3:20 p.m. Toronto time. A Rogers spokesperson couldn’t be reached for comment.
The long disruption is a black eye for a company that’s trying to persuade regulators to allow it to buy an even larger share of Canada’s telecommunications infrastructure. Rogers is in the process of trying to acquire Shaw Communications Inc., a C$20 billion ($15.4 billion) deal that would give it control over wireline and wireless networks that serve millions of customers in western Canada and the central province of Ontario.
Royal Bank of Canada said the network failure was affecting all financial institutions in Canada. Interac, a payment system that’s used by all the banks, said the problems hit its debit card and funds-transfer services.
Desjardins Group, which serves 7.5 million people, mostly in Quebec, said electronic funds transfers weren’t available. “Rogers customers who attempt to use our services may encounter certain difficulties. We recommend our members and customers to use our ATMs if they need cash,” spokesman Jean-Benoît Turcotti said.
Some government offices also lost their connections — including the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, the agency that regulates communications services, which said on Twitter that its phone lines weren’t working properly.
The outage has impacted the work day of businesses and executives all across Canada. Sameer Uplenchwar, chief financial officer of HeliosX Lithium & Technologies Corp., said he had to cancel plans to attend events at the Calgary Stampede and stay home because he cannot risk being disconnected from work.
“It’s kind of a blessing in disguise that Western Canada doesn’t have Rogers at home right now,” said Uplenchwar, who uses Telus Corp., a Shaw competitor, for his home internet connection.
Police services in places including Toronto and Waterloo, Ontario, alerted the public that Rogers customers may have difficulty connecting with 911.
Air Canada said its call centers were hit by the glitch, just as the airline is dealing with a wave of flight delays and cancellations amid a labor crunch in the aviation sector. Travelers entering Canada were also having issues completing information on an app used by the country’s border agency.
(Updates with additional information from the first paragraph)
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