Did you survive the total solar eclipse today? What also survived was the Rogers wireless network, which saw an increase in wireless network traffic as expected.
According to Rogers, the company saw more than 600% of the network traffic it normally does in Niagara Falls, one of the popular areas in the path of totality, according to a spokesperson in an email to iPhone in Canada.
“This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and our network team worked around the clock to handle the increase in wireless traffic, ensuring Canadians stayed connected to share the moment,” said a Rogers spokesperson in an email. “Our plan included installing portable mobile towers and mobile trucks to increase capacity in key communities and optimizing sites to handle more traffic,” said the company.
Rogers noted that in key locations it set up portable mobile towers and mobile trucks, known in the industry as Cell on Wheels and Cell on Light Trucks, respectively, to increase capacity and give priority to locations based on previous event data.
The wireless carrier said it also kicked in some special event configurations to adjust coverage and traffic management at specific cell sites, while maintenance work was paused that might have affected capacity (the infamous Rogers nationwide network outage in 2022 was blamed on a software update).
Earlier today, Bell said on X, “We’re expecting high traffic on our networks as the solar eclipse travels through parts of Canada later today. Our teams are ready to respond to keep you connected during the event.”
From the looks of it, cell networks handled the temporary traffic surge without issue after setting up mobile cell networks.
Some people were pretty creative in filming footage of the total solar eclipse.
The total solar eclipse using the Tesla glass roof as an ND filter. pic.twitter.com/SW2JRfBvWh
— Sarah (@thesimple_sarah) April 8, 2024
According to the Niagara Falls Review, the region hasn’t seen a total solar eclipse since 1925. The next occurrence won’t happen until 2144.
“When the moment arrived, well … my jaw dropped. It was one of the freakiest and coolest things I’ve ever seen. It was night-time in the middle of the day. You could hear cheers from across the river in Niagara Falls, N.Y. Birds flew haphazardly, all confused. One of the biggest crowds I’ve ever been part of was joined in awe, staring at the sky,” wrote reporter John Law.
“In those amazing four minutes, all the hype and anticipation was worth it. Clouds or not, we were part of something utterly unique. Something your parents and maybe their parents never saw,” explains Law.
We’ve similarly reached out to Telus, Bell and Quebecor for eclipse network data, and will update this story accordingly.
Update April 8, 5:33pm PDT: A Bell spokesperson sent iPhone in Canada the following statement after we reached out, saying, “Our network saw 5x the volume in high-traffic areas including Niagara, Hamilton, Toronto, Montreal, Sherbrooke, Brockville, Kingston, Québec City.”
“Thanks to the measures we had put in place ahead of time, our network continued to run optimally. We had a dedicated team monitoring usage levels throughout the day and even had a portable cell on wheels, known as a COW, in Niagara Falls to ensure uninterrupted service and mitigate any potential impact on our customers,” added the spokesperson.
Update April 9, 9:29am PDT: Quebecor told iPhone in Canada in a statement today, “Our teams monitored the situation closely all the way through the eclipse. We observed a traffic increase of up to 50% on our network in areas where larger crowds gathered. The strength and robustness of our network ensured continuity of wireless service for all Videotron, Freedom Mobile and Fizz subscribers during yesterday’s eclipse.”
Update April 9, 11:07am PDT: Telus told iPhone in Canada in a statement today, “Over the last few years, we have made massive investments in our network and our infrastructure was able to support the increased number of visitors during the eclipse.”
“Telus saw five times the regular volume of data traffic and nine times the voice calls in key areas including Niagara, Hamilton, Toronto, Montreal, Sherbrooke, Brockville, Kingston and Quebec City. Our team worked around the clock, paused routine maintenance work and duly monitored our network performance to provide continuity of service so our customers could enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime event,” said the Telus spokersperson.
