Cable woes continue
Wednesday August 18, 2010
Yukon News
For the third time in just over a week, Northwestel service has been disrupted.
Yukoners are once again disconnected.
And northern Alberta construction crews are to blame.
On Tuesday morning, a road crew between Two Creeks and Fox Creek, Alberta, cut a fibre-optic cable - the same one cut twice last week.
Around 11 a.m., Yukon and BC customers began to experience congested long-distance phone service to the South, congested internet service and congested Bell services.
Latitude Wireless had congested data services, including text messaging.
Customers in the Northwest Territories experienced similar problems.
Rohl Geomatics, the company that owns the mauled cable, sent technicians to the site on Tuesday afternoon.
The cable was spliced around 10 p.m. yesterday, restoring all services.
Rohl Geomatics, and Richardson Bros., the construction company responsible for last week’s incidents, could not be contacted on Tuesday afternoon because landlines were down in Alberta.
Northwestel couldn’t confirm whether the same company was responsible for this week’s cable cut.
However, on Wednesday morning, Richardson Bros. of Olds, Alberta, claimed it wasn’t responsible for Tuesday’s fibre cut.
And it explained what happened last week.
“We were just given the clear that (the fibre cable) wasn’t in our route or anything and it wasn’t marked there ... and we got the OK to go ahead,” said the company’s project supervisor Wayne Coston.
Contact Larissa Robyn Johnston at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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2:30pm 08/25/10 | riptide wrote:
Northwestel is responsible for contractors digging in Fox Creek Alberta? I wasn’t aware that Nwtel even had cable/fiber lines there…
Going back to last summer, I know contractors dug up a plainly marked fiber cable… so again how is that Nwtel’s problem?
I think some peoples hatred towards Nwtel is coloring their judgment. As for the contractors paying for loss of service, they have insurance to cover these costs. Nwtel (and other Telco’s) will bill them, but the contractor only pays through increased insurance rates.
2:06pm 08/19/10 | yukonjack wrote:
Karma is correct. The other problem is the lack of redundancy in Northwestel’s network. Fiber seems to be the only method for our data to reach the south. What happened to microwave and other terrestrial options? It would be similar to sending a space shuttle into outter space with only 1 oxygen tank. There’s a reason NASA triples up on everything.
11:49am 08/19/10 | Karma wrote:
The fault lies with Northwestel. The company who cut the line was told it was ok to dig there.The line was not marked so who ever installed it was is also at fault. Northwestel should know where there cables are and if they are marked. If I was providing an esential service I would want to know if my fiber line was marked unless I didn’t care about my customers. After the cable was installed Northwestel should have inspected it to make sure it was installed correctly. After the second time you figure Northwestel would have checked for themselves if it was installed correctly.I wonder if Northwestel will check the route of this fiber line this time or just take the word of the contractor that they marked it?
5:44pm 08/18/10 | EricB wrote:
It’s amazing - how can the construction company say “it’s not our fault” when it’s their responsibility to identify and locate all existing services regardless of what they are told. Make them pay - they’ll never do it again!! Three times????
Erb
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