This morning’s abrupt failure of Northwestel Inc.’s fibre optic cable between Swift River and Watson Lake has created havoc throughout the Yukon and other parts of the North.

Northwestel spokeswoman Adriann Kennedy said early this afternoon the outage occurred at 10 a.m.

A helicopter with a crew of technicians was dispatched from Whitehorse to investigate the cause.

The company won’t have an estimate of how long repairs will take until it knows the extent of the problem, she said.

She didn’t know when the crew left nor was expected to arrive in the area later today.

“It is causing disruptions across the territory,” Kennedy noted.

“We do have some redundant capacity on our microwave network.”

She said the microwave service will also be impacted and likely function more slowly because of the additional congestion.

Northwestel TV service throughout the North will also be experiencing disruptions, she said.

Kennedy said communities in the Mackenzie Delta, Nunavut and satellite communities in the Northwest Territories are also adversely affected.

Banks and other businesses were experiencing significant disruptions to their business as a result of the failure of the fibre optic cable.

Despite not being able to process credit or debit card transactions, stores on Main Street remained open.

A limited number of stores are inking credit cards for payment, with the majority relying on cash.

Banks are letting their customers withdraw limited amounts of cash for the time being.

Each bank is permitting its customers to withdraw $100 to $500 depending on the bank, upon presenting a bank card and a valid piece of identification.

Deposits can still be made at some banks; they just won’t be processed until the Internet is restored to operation.

See related brief at right.

By Chuck Tobin
and PIERRE CHAUVIN
Star Reporters