NorthwesTel is keeping mum about what caused a power surge that knocked the Internet offline for more than two hours in the territory on Aug. 13. On the company’s website, it stated the disruption was caused by a “critical power surge in a NorthwesTel facility,” but officials wouldn’t elaborate on what caused the problem.
Telecommunications were also disrupted in northern British Columbia, as well as the Mackenzie Delta region of the Northwest Territories.
A NorthwesTel spokesperson said the company doesn’t divulge the details of its internal network operations.
“I can confirm that a surge in power caused a disruption to the electrical supply in a NorthwesTel facility,” wrote Adriann Kennedy, manager of external communications, in an e-mail.
Kennedy said the surge resulted in intermittent interruptions that lasted for approximately two hours and 15 minutes, as heavy traffic congested the company’s redundant network.