Emergency Updates

Bell ready to mitigate the effects of wildfires on its network

With wildfires already active in parts of the province, Bell is activating its strategies to help customers stay connected during extreme weather events.

Bell has implemented a number of measures to prevent outages caused by extreme weather and, when such events occur, to mitigate their impact on customers.

During any extreme weather event, the safety of the community and first responders is of the utmost importance. Continued access to Internet and mobility services plays a critical role in the well-being of those affected by these events, as well as those responding to them. The safety of our team members who repair and restore the network in all weather conditions is equally critical to ensure the well-being of frontline employees.

Bell’s approach to mitigating the impacts of severe weather includes:

• A year-round daily network review to ensure network stability
• Preparing our wireless cell sites, data centre and central offices to maximize battery life
• Ensuring our generators and trucks are topped up with fuel and we have access to enough fuel during and immediately after a severe weather event
• Prioritizing generators in places that support key wireless sites, high-density fibre routes and public safety communications
• Readiness to deploy crews from other regions to support affected areas if needed
• Providing technicians with refresher training on how to work safely in hazardous conditions
• Communicating with applicable provincial Emergency Management Offices (EMOs), Premiers’ offices, key federal ministers, and other local partners to ensure effective coordination and support
• Working collaboratively with other network providers
• Setting up a 24/7 Corporate Emergency Operations Center as soon as we foresee impacts on our customers

In addition, we’ve been steadily transitioning from our copper network to fibre networks, which are more resilient to extreme weather conditions, reducing the frequency and length of weather-related outages.

Tips to help you prepare for the next storm:

• Keep devices fully charged and have a backup battery ready in case of power outages
• Turn off Wi‑Fi and location-based services when not needed, and keep devices dry and cool
• Stay informed through local radio and television stations and apps such as the CTV News app
• Stay up-to-date about outages at Bell.ca/our-network and @Bell_Support, @Bell_Aliant or @Bell_MTSHelps on X
• During large-scale emergencies, mobile networks may become congested due to increased call and data volumes. Help reduce congestion by:
  • Using your mobile phone only for emergency calls
  • Using SMS/text or email to communicate, as these use less network capacity
  • Keep phone calls as short as possible
  • Refraining from data-intensive activities such as video streaming
• During a power outage, modems and TV receivers will not work. Once power is restored, you may need to turn devices off and on again to restore service
  • Bell’s networks may also be unavailable or experience disruptions until power is back
• Visit getprepared.gc.ca to learn more about how to prepare and stay safe during an emergency.

Additional tips to help keep your business connected:

• Document contact information for the Bell Service Desk, Account Executive, and escalation contacts, and keep it with your emergency kit
• Ensure critical network devices are connected to a UPS battery backup or local generator with sufficient capacity to meet operational requirements
• Consider purchasing a 5G/LTE service as a backup for data and Internet services

For additional information on Bell’s preparedness visit bell.ca/our-network.

Other resources:

Preparing for Severe Weather Events and Other Emergencies.pdf (canadatelecoms.ca)

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