Northwestel Inc. dispatched crews this morning to repair a cut in the fibre optic line between Muncho Lake and the Liard Hot Springs in northern British Columbia, says a company official.

Joel Witten, director of product development, said a crew was sent by helicopter shortly before 11 a.m. for the two-hour-plus flight, and a second crew was sent by truck with the tools.

“We could be looking at the better part of the day, depending on the cut,” Witten said, adding that it may be even be Tuesday before repairs are completed.

“Until we see, we do not know how bad it is.”

He said the line was severed between kilometre 742 and 750 by a third party construction crew. Muncho Lake is at kilometre 700 and the hot springs are at kilometre 765.

Shortly after alarms started going off in the network operations centre before 10 a.m., the construction crew called Northwestel to explain the location, Witten said.

Businesses, including banks and others who depend on the Internet to provide services, are affected, though some do use the land line connection.

The Star, for example, was unable to connect to The Canadian Press wire service, resulting in no nation nor world sections in today’s paper for the first time.

Cell phone service is also affected, though calls were getting through intermittently but no data were available, he explained.

Northwestel Cable TV customers will also be experiencing disruptions.

Services across the Yukon, the Mackenzie Delta and all of Nunavut were being affected.

Witten said he wasn’t sure if the construction company contacted Northwestel before digging.

It was difficult to contact Whitehorse banks.

Scotiabank debit and credit transactions weren’t working at press time this afternoon, but most clients can take out up to $200 in cash at the branch, an official said.