Overview

• The outage began shortly after 9 a.m. ET on May 21, affecting internet and mobile services for over 130,000 Bell customers in Ontario and Quebec.
• Bell identified a problematic technical update as the cause and began rolling it back to restore service by mid-morning.
• By 11:00 a.m. ET, Bell reported full restoration of services, ruling out a cybersecurity breach as the cause of the disruption.
• The outage impacted flanker brands like Virgin Mobile and wholesale providers such as TekSavvy, highlighting the interdependence of telecom networks.
• Emergency services and payment systems experienced disruptions, prompting police advisories for residents to avoid non-urgent 9-1-1 calls.