Some Little Red River reserve residents left without SaskTel services for weeks
CBC
Some people from a northern Saskatchewan reserve were left without phone landline and internet services for weeks, and wonder why it took so long for SaskTel to address the issue.
Edward Ballantyne, who lives in Little Red River, north of Prince Albert, says he lost service in November.
"We were just sitting here watching TV, and all of a sudden it just went out. So did the phone," he told CBC Radio's The 306 in an interview Friday.
In a statement sent to CBC, the Crown communications company said the issue was caused by an underground cable that "appears to have been damaged due to other construction activities occurring in the area."
The statement didn't say who was doing the construction. CBC reached out to SaskTel Saturday for further comment.
Ballantyne said at first, he thought he wasn't up-to-date on his SaskTel bill, and had to go to his bank to check, since he no longer gets paper bills.
When he reached out to SaskTel, he couldn't get clarity on when his service would be restored.
"We kept getting, 'Well, it'll be turned back on Dec. 2, Dec. 3, Dec. 18, Dec. 30 — then it went to January, Jan. 9.…' So it was an ongoing issue," he said, adding many people in the northern community don't have cellphone service.
"We're a Native community out here, so there's elders here that need that [land]line, that 911 number."
In its statement to CBC, SaskTel said the outage was first reported to the company on Nov. 27, but the cause was initially unknown.
A technician was on site Friday, and SaskTel expected to have services restored by the end of the day, it said.
It was "difficult to troubleshoot" and identify the location of the damage due to winter conditions, and it took until this week "to isolate the damaged underground cable that caused the issue," said SaskTel.
About 10 customers were affected, the corporation said, and "have had the option to have their landline forwarded to their cellphone so that they can continue to have telephone service" during the outage.
SaskTel said it will also credit affected customers for the period they went without service, adding it apologizes for any inconvenience.
Some people from a northern Saskatchewan reserve were left without phone landline and internet services for weeks, and wonder why it took so long for SaskTel to address the issue.
Alberta’s rate cap is deepening financial losses in the province's auto insurance market, industry experts say, as a new report found auto insurers lost more than $1.2 billion in 2024.
Environment and Climate Change Canada says an atmospheric river will take aim at British Columbia's south coast this weekend as heavy rain continues to batter the north coast.
Islanders packed into the temporary location for the Charlottetown Farmers' Market Saturday, marking the first day operating on North River Road in the former Sporting Intentions space.
More than 1,000 demonstrators gathered in Richmond Hill, Ont., Saturday to show solidarity to protesters in Iran, fighting against the country’s financial collapse and the regime that led to it.
The City of Toronto began its first pothole repair blitz of the year Friday with crews working to fill potholes across the city overnight and into Saturday.
One of the best gifts Cameron Eckert got for Christmas was a sighting of four white-tailed ptarmigan.
Mayor Jeromy Farkas, along with City of Calgary officials, will provide an update at 1 p.m. Saturday on the work to repair the ruptured Bearspaw south feeder main.
As Kaschechwan First Nation navigates a water crisis, families are having to get by with one case of water bottles per day.
Environment Canada has issued special weather statements for much of the Maritimes, beginning Sunday morning.
Organizers of a long-running food and wine show that showcases the country's best booze aren't letting a growing trend that sees Canadians drinking less alcohol stop the London event.
Robert Grenier, an archaeologist known for pioneering underwater exploration, has died.
In just over a month, millions of Canadians will be gathering to watch ice hockey at the Milano-Cortina Winter Games.