PEMBROKE — On Tuesday December 20th, areas of the County of Renfrew and City of Pembroke experienced a prolonged and complete interruption of Bell Canada telephone service shortly after 2.30 p.m.
As a result of this Bell Canada telephone system failure, 911 Emergency telephone access was interrupted. Paramedic, Police and Fire Services remained available to the public at all times. Contingency plans were immediately implemented and call taking functions were transferred to centres outside of the County.
As of 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 21,Bell Canada has notified the County of Renfrew Emergency Services Department that telephone service has been restored throughout the County and City of Pembroke.
Warden Jennifer Murphy said “I would like to thank our Paramedic Service, Communications Staff and Public Safety Partners for ensuring a seamless provision of service to the Community”.
Jim Hutton, CAO for the County added, “The County of Renfrew will be following up with Bell Canada representatives to review the conditions that resulted in this interruption of our critical infrastructure and what actions they will undertake to prevent this from occurring again in the future.”
