Network outage raises concerns

Last Friday’s Bell Aliant outage in many parts of Atlantic Canada has dialed up concerns among experts about the security of the region’s telecommunications system.

Eamon Hoey, a management consultant in Toronto who has worked in the field for over four decades, said in an interview the breakdown of Bell’s system due to cuts in crucial fibre optic links raises questions about whether there is sufficient backup.

“We need better networks. We need more robust networks. This case in the Atlantic provinces suggests we don’t have it,” he said on Monday from his home in Toronto.

The breakdown affected emergency services in some parts of the region, caused widespread cellular telephone outages on Telus, Bell, Virgin and Koodo, and also interrupted internet and some land line services for about four hours, beginning late Friday morning. The Rogers and Eastlink networks continued to operate.

Emergency measures agencies in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick said Tuesday they will be in talks with Bell following the outage.

In 2011, a cut in a Bell fibre optic line in northern New Brunswick led to service outages through many parts of that province for about three hours.

Hoey says the region’s network is heavily reliant on Bell’s fibre optic system, and said the CRTC should consider the need for more backup methods.