The federal government in Ottawa says that Canada's telecom companies have agreed to
implement new measures that will ensure emergency roaming and other assistance is provided
to Canadian individuals and businesses in the event of another major wireless outage.
The agreement comes after a massive wireless outage at Rogers Communications (RCI) in July
left millions of Canadian people and businesses without internet access for several days.
In the wake of the outage, federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe
Champagne directed the heads of Rogers and other telecom companies to develop back-up
plans to ensure that a similar calamity does not happen in the future.
Minister Champagne says the telecom companies have agreed to assist one another to ensure
that 911 connections aren't impacted in the event of another internet outage.
Champagne says he is taking additional steps, including directing the Canadian Security
Telecommunications Advisory Committee (CSTAC) to develop further measures within six
months to ensure robust and reliable telecom networks across the country at all times.
Rogers’ stock is down 10% this year at $55.06 per share.
