Some Bell Mobility customers near North Bay and Corbeil in northeastern Ontario are experiencing service outages this week, after copper theft damaged network infrastructure in the area.
Bell said on Tuesday its teams were on site and working to restore service, with most repairs expected to be completed by the end of the week. In an update posted Wednesday, July 16, Bell said service may still be affected but they’re aiming to restore the majority by the end of the day.
Bell also warned that copper theft remains a growing issue, leading to outages that can impact access to critical services, including 9-1-1. The company is urging anyone who sees suspicious activity near telecom equipment to contact local police.
“Our teams are onsite working to repair the damage and hope to have the majority of services restored by end of day,” said Bell Support.
Earlier this month, Bell again reiterated the surge in copper theft across Eastern Canada was causing outages, and his is an example of that. About 63% of thefts happen in Ontario, with some of the hardest hit spots being Hamilton, Cambridge, and Windsor.
Bell has been calling on provincial and federal governments to toughen penalties and update the Criminal Code to better protect critical telecom infrastructure. But based on this latest outage, it appears copper thieves continue to operate freely—confident there will be little to no consequence.
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