Rogers services are back online for most customers after a daylong outage at the telecom giant that left millions of Canadians without internet and cellular service, while also disrupting government services and payment systems.
Some individual users saw their internet connections and cellphones come back to life Friday evening, and an update sent to CBC’s IT department said the problem in Rogers’s “core network … looks to have recovered.”
In an update Saturday morning, posted to Twitter, Rogers said it has now restored services for the “vast majority of our customers” and that its technical teams are working hard to ensure that the remaining customers are back online as quickly as possible.
The Toronto-based company has offered no timeline for when service may be restored to all customers.
Tony Staffieri, chief executive and president of Rogers, said in an open letter that the company apologizes for the service interruption. He gave no explanation for the outage or how many customers were affected.
The outage began some time early Friday morning; throughout the day the company said little about its cause or when it might end.
“We don’t understand how the different levels of redundancy that we build across the network coast to coast have not worked,” said Kye Prigg, Rogers’ senior vice-president of access networks and operations, on CBC’s Power & Politics.
“We are working very, very hard on making sure that we get everything running as soon as possible,” he told host Catherine Cullen.
WATCH | Rogers ‘close’ to finding source of problem:
Rogers unsure when service will return after nationwide outage
2 days ago
Duration 5:20
Rogers senior vice-president Kye Prigg says the company is examining the root cause of an issue that left millions of Canadians without cellular service on Friday, but cannot at this time give an estimated time for ‘full recovery of the networks.’
The company has approximately nine million wireless customers and just shy of three million on the cable and internet side of the business.
Responding to questions about compensation, Rogers said earlier that it would be “proactively crediting all customers” — but did not provide further details.
There is “no indication” the outage is due to a cyberattack, according to a statement from Canada’s electronic spy agency, the Communications Security Establishment.
The U.S.-based cybersecurity firm Cloudflare agreed with that assessment, saying in a in a blog post that the outage was likely “an internal error.”
Whatever the reason, the impact has been dramatic. Internet monitoring watchdog group Netblocks.org reported that total internet traffic in Canada was at 75 per cent of its normal level on Friday morning.
Rogers-owned flanker brands like Fido and Chatr also went offline, as did services not directly controlled by Rogers, such as emergency services, travel and financial networks.
WATCH | Not a cyberattack, government official says:
Rogers outage doesn’t appear to be a cyberattack: government official
23 hours ago
Duration 7:25
‘At this point, I think we can reassure Canadians that this is not a cyberattack,’ said Parliamentary Secretary Greg Fergus of Rogers’ Canada-wide outage, citing early analysis from the Communications Security Establishment.
Debit payment services have also been interrupted.
“A nationwide telecommunications outage with a network provider … is impacting the availability of some Interac services,” a spokesperson for Interac confirmed to CBC News.
“Debit is currently unavailable online and at checkout. Interac e-transfer is also widely unavailable, impacting the ability to send and receive payments.”
Bell confirmed that it is having no issues on its network, although it says customers are having difficulties connecting to anything on a Rogers network.
“The Bell network is operational and calls and texts between Bell customers or to other providers are not impacted,” the company said on Twitter.
Spoke to the CEO of Rogers. Shared with him the frustration of millions of Canadians.<br><br>Also spoke w/ the CEOs of both Bell and Telus. Everyone is in solution mode, willing to help.<br><br>This unacceptable situation is why quality, diversity & reliability are key to our telecom network
The Toronto Police Service tweeted that Rogers customers in that city were having trouble connecting to 911, but stressed that the 911 service itself was working properly, as long as people weren’t calling from a Rogers-affiliated device.
“We are working to resolve these issues,” the force said.
Other emergency services reported a similar status.
“Although Rogers is experiencing a nationwide outage, our tests have shown 911 is still working,” a spokesperson for the Fredericton Police Service told CBC News.
Officials in Winnipeg and Vancouver also stressed that emergency services are operational, but people on the Rogers network can’t seem to access them.
Canada’s telecom regulator did not immediately reply to a request from CBC News as to whether the 911 problems seen Friday are in breach of those rules. In a tweet, the CRTC said it also doesn’t have reliable phone service due to the Rogers outage.
WATCH | Here’s what regular Canadians told us:
Major Rogers outage hits businesses, customers across Canada
1 day ago
Duration 1:46
Rogers customers were caught off guard by Friday’s massive outage involving both mobile and internet networks, which also caused widespread disruption for banks, businesses and some emergency services across Canada.
Outage ‘incomprehensible’
They aren’t the only ones. Ordinary Canadians told CBC News on Friday that the outage is unacceptable.
“This can’t happen again without changes being made,” said Torontonian Andrew Revai. “People can tweet all the memes they want about losing connectivity but how will Rogers keep this from happening again?”
Ottawa resident Robert Hubscher said “it’s incomprehensible” that a company as big as Rogers could have an outage this widespread for this long.
He uses Rogers for his cellphone and home internet, and said he’s glad he has some services with other companies to maintain connections right now.
“It’s a little scary that the regulatory bodies are not looking at this more seriously,” Hubscher said.
Government services including already bottlenecked passport offices, Service Canada, Public Services and Procurement Canada and the Canada Revenue Agency are also affected.
WATCH | Regulations need overhaul, expert says:
Telecom expert says Canada’s system needs overhaul
23 hours ago
Duration 6:54
Ben Klass says the Rogers outage is another lesson in why Canada’s telecom regulations need to be completely changed to ensure that consumers and businesses can rely on them when they are needed most.
Telecom analyst Vince Valentini with TD Bank, who covers Rogers, says it’s not good for the company’s reputation to have an outage of this scale, especially since it seems to be across all of its services, from internet to wireless.
“The longer this situation lasts, we believe there could be minor risks to customer churn,” he said. “And also there could be credibility issues for Rogers in the future as it attempts to ramp up sales.”
It’s the second time in as many years that Rogers has been rocked by a major outage, as the company’s wireless and cable networks went down in a similar fashion in April 2021. At the time, Rogers blamed an issue with a software update at one of its telecom equipment suppliers.
That time, the company offered customers rebates for their services, which ended up working out to a few dollars per customer. If the same metric is applied this time, Valentini says the company could be on the hook for about $28 million in rebates.
Technology analyst Ritesh Kotak says he suspects the cause of the outage is “an update gone wrong” in one of Rogers’ internal systems.
Regardless of why, Kotak says it underscores how vulnerable Canada’s economy is to outages like this, and says he makes sure all his telecom services come from different providers for this exact reason.
“It shows just how reliant we are on this technology,” he said in an interview. “From some government services … to working from home, all that has literally been shut down.”
Vass Bednar, executive director of of McMaster University’s Master of Public Policy in digital society program, says the outage underlines a long-simmering problem with Canada’s telecom network, which is that both the infrastructure and the services themselves are owned by private companies.
That’s not the case everywhere in the world, where private sector players control one or the other, and often compete with a public option.
“The internet and cellular services … seem like a public good,” she told CBC News. “They seem like critical digital infrastructure that we all need to use, and yet they are privately owned and operated.”
“Maybe it’s time for Canadians to seriously rethink that.”
Bank machines and other financial networks across the country were down, seemingly due to the issues at Rogers. (Angela MacIvor/CBC)
OTTAWA – Conservative MP Garnett Genuis told a federal inquiry today that parliamentarians who were targeted by Chinese hackers could have taken immediate protective steps if they had been informed sooner.
It emerged earlier this year that in 2021 some MPs and senators faced cyberattacks from the hackers because of their involvement with the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, which pushes for accountability from Beijing.
In 2022, U.S. authorities apparently informed the Canadian government of the attacks, and it in turn advised parliamentary IT officials — but not individual MPs.
Genuis, a Canadian co-chair of the inter-parliamentary alliance, told a federal commission of inquiry on foreign interference today that it remains mysterious to him why he wasn’t informed about the attacks sooner.
Liberal MP John McKay, also a Canadian co-chair of the alliance, said there should be a clear protocol for advising parliamentarians of cyberthreats.
Several weeks of public inquiry hearings will focus on the capacity of federal agencies to detect, deter and counter foreign meddling.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
TORONTO – After being drafted in the third round (61st overall) of the 2023 MLS SuperDraft, forward Charlie Sharp decided to put his dream of playing professional football on hold.
He spent a couple of weeks training with Toronto FC that summer and then returned for a fifth year at Western Michigan University.
“It was a really tough decision for me,” Sharp recalled. “Because I knew that going back to school, nothing was guaranteed. I could get injured or not perform well, but it seemed to really work out for me.”
Sharp scored 19 goals and added eight assists as a senior, leading the Broncos to a 17-2-3 record and a third-round appearance in the NCAA tournament where they eventually lost to national runner-up Notre Dame on penalty kicks. Sharp, who scored or assisted in nine of his last 10 matches, ranked first in the NCAA with 0.95 goals per game and 2.30 points per game and was tied for second with seven game-winning goals.
The 23-year-old Sharp, whose rights were retained by Toronto, spent time with the TFC first team in this year’s pre-season and signed with Toronto FC II in February. On Tuesday, he joined TFC 2 teammate Nate Edwards, a wingback from Brampton, Ont., in signing a first-team contract.
“We are happy to officially elevate Charlie at this time,” Toronto GM Jason Hernandez said in a statement Tuesday. “His strong mentality and mature playing style will be a welcomed addition to our young player group in the first team.”
Both players signed contracts that run through 2025 with club options for 2026 and 2027.
The deals were completed in advance of Friday’s MLS roster freeze but took their time working their way through the league office.
“A bit of unorthodox path that I chose,” said Sharp. “But I think you’re seeing it more now with players that get drafted.”
“I’m super-happy,” he added. “I think I made the right decision.”
As a senior, Sharp was one of three finalists for the 2023 MAC Hermann Trophy, which honours the top NCAA soccer player. The award eventually went to Clemson senior forward Ousmane Sylla.
The six-foot-five 185-pounder from Brighton, Mich., finished his collegiate career with 42 goals 22 assists, and 106 points in 89 games. He ranks first in career goals and games and tied for fourth in assists for Western Michigan.
In returning to Kalamazoo for a fifth year, Sharp also succeeded off the pitch by completing his degree in computer information systems.
Despite some niggling injuries, Sharp has five goals and two assists in 16 appearances with TFC 2 this season. He made his first-team debut off the bench May 15 against Nashville.
“I had a lot of friends and family watching,” he said.
“It’s been a journey,” Sharp added. “I’ve been thankful for every step of the way.,”
The 21-year-old Edwards has one goal and two assists in 23 games with TFC’s MLS Next Pro team.
“He has been a top performer with TFC II this season and we look forward to his continued growth within our environment,” said Hernandez
Edwards, who also joined TFC 2 in February, made his first-team debut May 21 in Canadian Championship play against Ligue1 Quebec champion CS Saint-Laurent.
The five-foot-eight 167-pounder split his college career between Syracuse University and Purdue University Fort Wayne. As a senior in 2023, he had one goal and four assists for Syracuse and was named to the 2023 All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Academic Team and College Sport Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District Team.
At Purdue University Fort Wayne, he had two goals and an assist in 40 appearances across three seasons (2020-2022) with the Mastodons.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
CALGARY – A Calgary man who pleaded guilty to sharing Islamic State recruitment videos and propaganda on TikTok will spend the next six years behind bars.
Zakarya Rida Hussein was sentenced during a court appearance on Friday after he pleaded guilty to one of four terrorism-related charges.
Hussein admitted that he owned social media accounts that posted ISIS recruitment videos and propaganda.
He also admitted to sharing a bomb-making video online.
The man was arrested in June 2023 after a joint investigation led by the RCMP and the Calgary Police Service.
Hussein will need to submit DNA results and will be under lifetime ban from owning firearms after he’s released.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
