Landslide in B.C. disrupts phone service across the North

Northwestel is blaming a landslidein Northern B.C. for "intermittent disruptions" to some phone services in the North.

"There's been a lot of rain in the area recently, andwhat's happened is there's been a landslide that's washed away part of the fibre," said Northwestel spokespersonAndrew Anderson.

The company says long distance and wireless services wereaffected Monday, as well as 1-800 calling, in Northern B.C., Yukon, N.W.T., and Nunavut.

Technicians have rerouted phone traffic to a redundant path, but Northwestel says there may be congestion on that path until the cut fibre line is repaired.

The company says the problem has no impact onvideo or internet service. Local calling from landlines and landline access to 911 services are also not affected.

Still,officials in Yukon and the N.W.T. are advising residents that if they have trouble calling for emergency assistance, they should physically go to thenearest RCMP detachment for help. In Whitehorse, residents are also being told they can go to the fire hall.

Anderson could not say exactly when the fibre optic repairs will be finished and the service disruptions will end.