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Minister directs telecoms to reach agreement on assisting each other during outages

Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne has told telecom companies to reach agreements within 60 days on emergency roaming, assisting each other during outages and a communication protocol to better inform Canadians and authorities during emergencies.
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Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne has told telecom companies to reach agreements within 60 days on emergency roaming, assisting each other during outages and a communication protocol to better inform Canadians and authorities during emergencies.

He also says the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission will investigate the Rogers outage.

Champagne made the announcement on Twitter today after a meeting with executives of the major telecom companies, following the massive Rogers Communications outage late last week.

The minister says the outage was “unacceptable” and his announcement represents just a “first step,” as Canadians deserve better from their providers in terms of quality and reliability of service.

He says he will ensure the companies meet the high standard Canadians expect, including improving competition, innovation and affordability.

The widespread Rogers service outage began on Friday morning and lasted at least 15 hours, knocking out access to many health-care, law enforcement and banking services.