Telecommunication services are offline on Haida Gwaii at this time between Daajing Giids and Tlell, including 9-1-1 services, landlines, and cellular networks. The outage began just before 4:30pm on Wednesday, January 21st, after a fiber optic cable between Tlell and Port Clements had been severed.
TELUS says it is aware of the issue and is working on repairs. The company confirmed that the outage had been caused by damage to a cable, which they say had been caused by a third party. How the cable was damaged or if it was damaged intentional have not yet been confirmed.
At this time, home phones, mobile data as well as text and voice services on the TELUS Network are unavailable in the affected communities. Telus says crews have been dispatched and they should have the situation resolved later today, Thursday, January 22nd.
The Daajing Giids RCMP say their Operations Communications Centre is currently unable to reach officers by phone. As a result, if you need police assistance for the time being in the communities of Tlell, Daajing Giids, Sandspit, or Skidegate you’ll need to go directly to the Daajing Giids RCMP detachment to request it.
Health Centers remain open on Haida Gwaii and are not impacted by any internal service disruptions due to staffing challenges at this time. Northern Health says you can still contact the Haida Gwaii Hospital and Health Centre reception by enabling wi-fi calling on your phone.
The North Coast Regional District had issued an alert to residents about the outage yesterday sharing contact information for emergency services in Sandspit. Fire services can be reached at (250) 637-2228, while Ambulance crews can be contacted (250) 637-5499 or (250) 637-5474.
CFNR News has reached out to local authorities for more details and confirmation.
Satellite networks are unaffected, meaning an Emergency SOS can still be sent via text on some devices if they’re equipped to do so.
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