After nearly 36 hours without telephone and Internet service, the Henday Association for Lifelong Learning and Innisfail Library/Learning Centre are back up and running.
According to TELUS spokesperson Chris Garret, the problem had been identified by its technicians as a damaged cable caused by construction work near the library. The spokesperson said the cable was repaired at about 8:30 p.m. and full service restored.
“When we got into work on Friday, November 7, our phones were up and running already,” said Laurie Hodges Humble, library manager. “I don't know when it was fixed, but I have sent a request in for a written report as to what caused our outage.”
She noted the outage started shortly after 1 p.m. on Nov. 5 and library employees and the staff of Henday Association for Lifelong Learning had been forced to use their personal phones to make business calls, in addition to creating hot spots for Internet usage.
“It has been frustrating for us at the centre as we depend on our Internet and phone service for so much,” said Donna Arnold, executive director of the Henday Association for Lifelong Learning. “TELUS was very good with us and set up two hot spots for Internet at no cost and covered our phone charges during the service break.”
Meanwhile, the library manager had been in contact with TELUS throughout the day on Nov. 6 and had difficulty reaching technicians.
“When I did reach technical services, they offered to direct all calls to my personal phone, and I did not want my personal number being used,” said Hodges Humble. “To serve our clientele, we made calls on our personal phones.”
During the outage, library patrons were still able to access the Internet and a planned author seminar went on as planned.
“We appreciate the patience and understanding of the library and the Henday Association staff while we worked to correct the situation,” said Garrett.
