Widespread Phone Service Outage Corrected

Widespread Phone Service Outage Corrected

Wednesday, July 12, 2006 at 13:21

Residents of some Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation communities in northeast Saskatchewan went over 12 hours yesterday without phone, cellphone, fax and e-mail service.

The problem surfaced in Jan Lake, Deschambault Lake, Pelican Narrows and Sandy Bay just before 3:00 am yesterday.

The services were restored by late afternoon.

SaskTel spokesman Andy Tate says the communications blackout was likely caused by a lightning strike.

The problem appears to have originated in Jan Lake.