Seniors left hanging during Bell MTS outage: property manager

Shelly Durham said when it comes to many of her elderly tenants of a downtown highrise apartment, their landline is their lifeline.

That lifeline was disconnected Tuesday after a copper cable that provides telephone service was cut Tuesday during construction work.

“It could be a matter of life and death,” said Durham, the building manager at Broadview Manor. “That’s the scary part.”

Manitoba Hydro spokesperson Peter Chura said a contractor working for the utility contacted the underground communications cable while installing a streetlight cable.

“A contractor working for Bell MTS had completed underground line locates prior to the work,” Chura said in an email. “We’re reviewing the circumstances of the cable contact, in collaboration with Bell MTS.”

The telecom previously said a third-party construction crew drilled through multiple underground ducts, causing significant damage to several cables and resulting in service interruptions affecting some customers downtown.

Bell MTS said Thursday repairs could take several days because of the complex nature of the work and the limited availability of specialized replacement cable. There was no change to that timeline Friday.

The company added it has the right to pursue cost recovery for damage caused by third parties, but said its current focus remains restoring service as quickly as possible.

Along with losing access to their landline, which could be critical if 911 needs to be called, Durham said residents of the Donald Street building have also lost access to the facility’s buzzer system, which could affect visitors and deliveries.

Durham said she’s tried to keep tenants informed of news as best she can but said Bell MTS has offered little in the way of answers. She wants to see a temporary system put in place to help residents.

“Safety is paramount,” she said, imploring Bell MTS to “do better.”

Unable to access the secure package dropoff area in the building’s lobby, the outage is a minor inconvenience for John Buksowicz. But he worries for his older neighbours.

“I can imagine for people that use a landline, and that’s their only communication, I can see how that would be trouble.”

He also thinks Bell MTS should provide a temporary solution until the situation is resolved — similar to how drinking water is provided when a water supply is interrupted, he said.

One senior resident at Broadview Manor is upset she can’t directly connect with her sister in California.

“I can’t call anyone,” said Lorna Dadson. “I’m very upset.”

A neighbour who has a working phone (other service providers, like Shaw, are unaffected) has been helping Dadson.

“When she calls, a neighbour comes and gets me,” said the elderly woman, who didn’t want her age published, but described herself as “very senior.”

Dadson said she also relies on her phone for medical calls. She said the outage was unacceptable.

“As a matter of fact, I’m going to switch to Shaw as soon as I can get it,” she said.

The elderly resident said her message to Bell MTS about the situation wouldn’t be suitable for print.

“I have a bad word I would use, but I’m not going to use it,” she said. “ Because I cannot connect with my family.”

— with files from Zoe Pierce

morgan.modjeski@freepress.mb.ca