The House of Commons industry committee has launched a formal investigation into the
massive blackout at Rogers Communications (RCI) that left millions of individuals and
businesses without internet access for more than 15 hours.
Members of Parliament on the committee agreed unanimously to investigate what led to the
national internet outage that generated media headlines around the world.
The July 8 outage impacted Rogers’ customers, knocked out bank machines and the Interac
payment system nationwide, and prevented calls to 911 emergency services in many
municipalities.
The committee will hold at least two meetings by the end of July and call officials to testify from
Rogers, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Committee (CRTC), and
federal Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne.
The industry committee said that it wants to learn how best to avoid future outages and to better
communicate with the public during national emergencies.
Industry Minister Champagne has called the national outage “unacceptable” and hinted that it
could impact Rogers $26 billion proposed acquisition of rival Shaw Communications (SJR),
which has some analysts and consumer groups raising concerns about competition in the
Canadian telecommunications market.
The CRTC, Canada’s broadcast regulator, has said that it is also investigating the outage at
Rogers Communications and its impact on the Canadian economy.
Rogers stock is down 3% this year at $59.14 per share.
