Federal regulator demands answers from Bell MTS over landline service complaints
Federal regulators are demanding answers and solutions from the bell MTS after several Manitobans have spoken out about their landline phone service which they call unacceptable.
The main landline at St. George’s Anglican Church in Crescentwood has been down since late April. Mary Smith, a parish administrator, said many parishioners there rely on that old school phone service.
“It’s been really frustrating, at this point, it’s hard for people to reach the Church,” said Smith.
Making matters worse, the phone line is connected to the church’s security system, so calls were rerouted to a backup line.
“And that line was going down as well and we were getting security alarms to the people who answer to them,” said Smith.
The Church’s service provider is Bell MTS.
“They apparently came and nobody seems to know what they did and we still don’t have a phone,” said Smith. “It would be nice if they could provide constant service, that’s all we’re asking."
The church is not alone. Other people CTV News spoke with are also having issues with their Bell MTS landlines.
Karen Kirk’s phone works now, but the West End homeowner said that was not the case three weeks during the first downpour of rain.
“The service became very crackly and it was difficult to hear,” said Kirk.
On top of that, Kirk said the system malfunctioned, inadvertently calling 911 three times resulting in a late night knock at her door to make sure everyone in the house was okay.
Joy Sutyla’s 84-year-old father has had a prolonged outage since March 8. He lives alone in rural Manitoba near Elma.
“I’m worried that I’m going to find him on the floor and he can’t tell me this,” said Sutyla.
Because of the number of complaints, the Canadian Radio‑television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), which is the federal regulator of broadcasting and telecommunications, is demanding Bell MTS identify all landline quality issues in the Winnipeg area.
On top of that, the CRTC is requiring Bell MTS to provide a plan to resolve the problem, along with a timeline.
“These issues and outages are impacting their ability to contact 9-1-1 and essential services. Moreover, residents have been complaining of poor customer service, missed appointments, and that Bell MTS has failed to respond to service outages in a timely manner. Many of the complaints refer to deteriorating telecommunications infrastructure across the city,” the CRTC said in a letter to Bell MTS.
Bell, which owns Bell MTS, is the parent company of CTV News. In a statement, Bell MTS said the extreme weather events this winter and spring have caused damage to cables.
“We have called in staff from outside of the area and our technicians are working overtime to get customers’ services up and running as quickly as possible. As calls for repairs are up over 60 per cent, we have been connecting with customers who may be experiencing prolonged outages to offer alternative service solutions,” the company told CTV News.
Bell MTS also said to prepare for the flooding it sandbagged its infrastructure and deployed batteries and generators in case of power outages.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.