Family of N.S. seniors call extensive landline outage a safety concern

When Jim Sacouman and Barb Moore lost landline service at their home in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley for nearly two months, they had no reliable way to contact family or advocate for themselves.

The recent outage meant being completely disconnected in their rural waterfront home on a secluded dirt road. It was a problem for the couple, both aged 76, who struggle with memory issues.

"I was lost. I actually couldn't remember my own number, let alone a way out. And I reacted in crisis, and when I'm in crisis I don't think straight," Sacouman said, as he broke down crying.

His daughter, Nikki Nemirovsky, said she only realized the severity of the couple's health issues the week before the outage occurred, when she took them on a trip to Winnipeg.

Immediately following their return to Nova Scotia, Nemirovsky lined up a continuing care provider and social worker to do in-home assessments. But that too was impacted by the outage.

"Neither of those people could contact them to arrange a visit because they didn't have a landline. So that was very upsetting," she said.

The Bell phone service outage lasted from Nov. 19 until Jan. 9.

The family considers the lengthy outage a safety concern. In addition to not receiving important calls, the couple was also not able to make calls in the event of an emergency. They believe landlines are an essential service that should be prioritized by phone companies.

In an email to CBC News, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) said it's concerned about this situation.

"The CRTC ensures that major telephone companies like Bell make basic voice telephone services available to their customers, and these companies are required to maintain their networks," said spokesperson Leigh Cameron in an email.

According to Bell, the landline service in Moore's name was "impacted during a larger service interruption in the community" last November.

"The individual cable servicing Ms. Moore's house suffered some damage at the time, resulting in intermittent service. The cable has been repaired and her account credited," said Bell spokesperson Katie Hatfield in an email statement.

While the company said its goal is to "always to get customers back in service as quickly as possible," timelines depend on many things such as the nature of the outage or weather conditions.

Moore's daughter-in-law Melinda Horton said options presented by Bell representatives at the time were not helpful.