The big boss of Rogers said on Monday that he regretted not having informed the Premier of Quebec, François Legault, when a major outage paralyzed the company’s network on July 8. He also gave more details about the causes of the problem.
“We did not notify the Premier of Quebec as well, and in retrospect, I regret that. I’m disappointed we didn’t try to reach him sooner,” said Tony Staffieri, President and CEO of Rogers. He was then answering a question from Conservative MP Bernard Généreux during a special hearing of the Standing Committee on Industry and Technology on Monday in the Ottawa parliament.
Mr. Staffieri explained the course of the catastrophic day of July 8, providing elected officials with a little more detail on the events.
That morning, 12 million Rogers cellular and Internet customers saw their access cut off, some of them for more than a day. Citizens found themselves unable to reach 911 and it was no longer possible to use the Interac payment system in the country, among other consequences.
Technical problem
The big boss of the telecommunications giant apologized to the people affected by the breakdown. He explained that a system failure occurred after an update was installed on the core network. Given the complexity of the network, “figuring out what caused the outage took some time,” he explained.
Once the error was identified, additional time was needed to reconnect users to the network. In particular, it was necessary to physically disconnect a faulty piece of equipment. According to the big boss of Rogers, the maneuver had been tested without problem five times.
“We had procedures in place to ensure that 911 and emergency calls changed to another operator. For very specific technical reasons, this automatic transfer did not happen,” he also said, refuting that it could be a business decision.
Tony Staffieri says he notified federal authorities of the outage around noon on July 8. He did not contact the provinces until later in the evening, according to his version of the events.
He now promises to separate central telephone and Internet services, at a cost of $250 million. He also announced investments of 10 billion to strengthen the network. As compensation for this outage, all Rogers customers will automatically receive a five-day credit on their bill.
The CEO of Rogers faced several questions from elected committee members about his attempt to acquire his competitor Shaw, a transaction that is currently at the mediation stage with the Commissioner of Competition of Canada. Several MPs expressed fears that the network could be weakened by less competition. “It’s a matter of scale,” Mr. Staffieri said. This is necessary to make investments that neither company is prepared to make alone, such as connecting rural and indigenous communities. »
Investigations
The federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, François-Philippe Champagne, also testified in parliamentary committee on Monday. The minister recounted how he spoke to Rogers executives from Tokyo, where he was at the time of the outage.
The minister has pointed out that the problem was caused by a single company, but he says he is prepared to examine the findings of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) investigation underway — and those of the committee — to find out whether the law needs to be strengthened. He did not say if he would block a possible acquisition of Shaw by Rogers, but specified that he would prevent the transfer of all licenses from the first to the second.
Meanwhile, he insisted that he demanded from the major telecommunications companies an agreement on emergency roaming between the companies, mutual assistance during blackouts and a protocol to better inform the public and authorities during problematic situations.
Minister Champagne had given 60 days to Rogers, Bell, Telus and Videotron, in particular, to agree. They now have 45 days left.
The CRTC received the report Friday detailing the problem that it had requested from Rogers. Its experts are analyzing it to determine the next steps, which could include changes in the regulation of telecommunications companies.
In front of elected officials, its first leader, Ian Scott, indicated that the regulator has the power to issue fines to Rogers if the company does not obey its instructions. So far, she “has been very collaborative,” he said.