Skip to content

Damaged Telus line leaves south-end hospital, customers without phone or internet

Repairs not expected to be fully finished until early Sunday morning
9529548_web1_CPT101438557

A damaged Telus line has disrupted phone and internet service for the Haida Gwaii Hospital and 1,300 customers in south-end Haida Gwaii.

The damaged line has cut off the Haida Gwaii Hospital’s digital phone network.

If anyone has a medical emergency and can’t get through to the hospital, on Graham Island they can call the ambulance at 250-559-8294, the QC fire department at 250-559-4488, the Skidegate fire department at 250-559-8300, the RCMP at 250-559-4421, or present directly to the emergency room. In Sandspit, residents can call the local ambulance at 250-637-2264 or fire department at 250-637-2228.

Cellular and long-distance phone services were restored late Saturday afternoon, but internet service may not be fully restored until Sunday morning.

At 2:19 p.m. Friday, a logging truck damaged the overhead Telus phone and fibre-optic line along the highway north of Skidegate. A crew of cable repair technicians and a splicer flew to Haida Gwaii by floatplane on Saturday morning.

South-end Haida Gwaii already went a day without Telus phone and internet services on Oct. 18, after a driver crashed into a pole carrying the overhead Telus line in Tlell.

For the updates, follow the Telus service status webpage.