Authorities are investigating after copper thieves severed Telus cables in northern B.C. over the weekend—causing a telecommunications outage that affected 911 service across several communities. The theft marked the second such incident to strike the province’s north so far this year. Telus told CTV News the company’s fibre lines were cut Sunday afternoon in the Mount Hayes area along Highway 16, disrupting cellphone, landline, TV and internet services for many of its northern customers. Affected communities included Terrace, Masset, Kitimat, Prince Rupert, Smithers, Burns Lake and Fraser Lake. “Telus crews worked tirelessly to repair the significant damage, and the vast majority of services were restored to customers just before midnight on Sunday. All remaining services were fully restored as of Monday,” the company said in a statement. Related: B.C. RCMP investigating copper theft that caused ‘extremely serious’ Telus outage While the repairs were underway, Telus also secured roaming service through another carrier so cellphone service resumed for “the vast majority of customers in the area quickly,” including 911 access. A similar outage was reported back in May, and also impacted 21 health-care facilities across northern B.C., in Burns Lake, Hazelton, Smithers, Terrace, Prince Rupert and Masset. Telus said rising copper prices have corresponded with an increase in thefts that damage vital infrastructure—with the company reporting a 102 per cent hike in such incident this year over last. “While thieves are typically after copper cables, they often cut through nearby fibre cables during their acts of vandalism, disrupting critical services to even more customers,” the company said. “To combat these serious crimes, we have installed security cameras, alarms, fencing and custom barriers such as proprietary vault lid locks and specialized keys to prevent unauthorized access to manholes.” The B.C. RCMP said the preliminary estimate for the cost of Sunday’s damage and repairs is approximately $20,000. E-Comm, which employs most 911 call-takers in the province, said the outage lasted from around 1 p.m. Sunday to 1 a.m. Monday. While it was ongoing, affected customers who were unable to reach 911 to visit a local police, fire or ambulance station in person. CTV News is owned by Bell Media, a division of telecommunications company BCE.
