Weather Impacts to Mobile Service

While power outages and internet disruptions are the most common service interruptions, your mobile service could also be impacted by extreme weather events. Here’s why, and what you can do to prepare.

Cell towers require power to operate, so a power outage can impact mobile service.  Many cell towers have generators that can provide backup power during longer power outage events. Generators are either permanently fixed or portable and deployed to sites as required to keep backup battery power running.

If the power outage is isolated to an individual site, devices often pick up a signal from an unaffected tower nearby. And in the case of Eastlink, customers are also able to roam on other partner networks when not on our network, at no additional charge.

Extreme weather events can cause damage to towers or impede access to them. We work closely with our emergency measures organizations and local power companies to gain safe access to affected sites so that we can repair damage as quickly as possible.

It’s important to note that a typical household uses substantially more data than an average mobile subscriber. When wired internet and video services are impacted by power outages, this may cause congestion and a slower mobile network experience.  

If you have advance notice of an extreme weather event, here are a few basic steps you can follow to prepare:

• Fully charge your phone and portable power bank
• Conserve your battery by switching to low battery/power save mode and limiting phone use to critical communications
• Limit your use of mobile data to essential communications during this time to help reduce congestion
• Use a battery-powered radio instead of your phone to keep you connected to the latest news
• Make a written copy of your emergency contacts’ information and make a plan for how to reach each other if you’re unable to call or text

For more information on the emergency alert system, visit Receiving Emergency Alerts.