This elderly couple lost home phone service for nearly 2 months. Their family says that’s a major safety concern

When Jim Sacouman and Barb Moore lost landline service at their home in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley for nearly two months, they had no reliable way to contact family or advocate for themselves.

The recent outage meant being completely disconnected in their rural waterfront home on a secluded dirt road. It was a problem for the couple, both aged 76, who struggle with memory issues.

“I was lost. I actually couldn’t remember my own number, let alone a way out. And I reacted in crisis, and when I’m in crisis I don’t think straight,” Sacouman said, as he broke down crying.

Family of landline customers explain why the service is essential

The family of an elderly couple in rural Nova Scotia is calling a two-month landline outage a safety concern. In addition to not receiving important calls, the couple was also not able to make calls in the event of an emergency.

His daughter, Nikki Nemirovsky, said she only realized the severity of the couple’s health issues the week before the outage occurred, when she took them on a trip to Winnipeg.

Immediately following their return to Nova Scotia, Nemirovsky lined up a continuing care provider and social worker to do in-home assessments. But that too was impacted by the outage.

“Neither of those people could contact them to arrange a visit because they didn’t have a landline. So that was very upsetting,” she said.

The Bell phone service outage lasted from Nov. 19 until Jan. 9.

Telcos ‘required to maintain their networks’

The family considers the lengthy outage a safety concern. In addition to not receiving important calls, the couple was also not able to make calls in the event of an emergency. They believe landlines are an essential service that should be prioritized by phone companies.

In an email to CBC News, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) said it’s concerned about this situation.

“The CRTC ensures that major telephone companies like Bell make basic voice telephone services available to their customers, and these companies are required to maintain their networks,” said spokesperson Leigh Cameron in an email.

According to Bell, the landline service in Moore’s name was “impacted during a larger service interruption in the community” last November.

“The individual cable servicing Ms. Moore’s house suffered some damage at the time, resulting in intermittent service. The cable has been repaired and her account credited,” said Bell spokesperson Katie Hatfield in an email statement.

While the company said its goal is to “always to get customers back in service as quickly as possible,” timelines depend on many things such as the nature of the outage or weather conditions.

Moore’s daughter-in-law Melinda Horton said options presented by Bell representatives at the time were not helpful.

“They suggested a mobile phone to use, which is not something that works very well in this situation. And they also suggested going to a neighbour in an emergency but that’s not really an option either because of where they live. There are a lot of seasonal people and not many live here year-round,” said Horton.

“The option is [they] need a working landline at all times. And I think that’s their right.”

Sacouman has never learned how to use a cell phone, and said his partner often forgets where hers is located, to charge it or how to access the voicemail.

“We carry our mobile phones on us all of the time, but for this age demographic that’s not something that’s common,” said Horton.

“They’re expensive to have and not everybody has the ability to use that technology.”

Advocacy group calls outage ‘egregious’

According to Statistics Canada, the share of households nationwide that reported having a landline declined from 63 per cent in 2017 to 47 per cent in 2021. Only 15 per cent of households with a respondent aged 65 and older had a cellphone and no landline, as of 2019.

John Lawford, executive director and general counsel for the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, said even with the steady drop, there are still millions of Canadians who rely on landline service.

“It’s essential,” he said. “It is still used as a reliable number — one that people can reach you for very important things. For many Canadians, that’s why they still pay for it. And in some locations, wireless service is not actually robust enough to be used for important matters.”

Lawford called the weeks-long outage in the Annapolis Valley “egregious.”

“Effectively these folks have had a disconnection,” he said. “If the service is not connected in a reasonable time, that is a disconnection I would argue.”

Lawford said the expected restoration time is typically between 24 and 48 hours.

In an email statement, Bell said “during a significant outage our goal is to get customers back in service as quickly and safely as possible by prioritizing repairs with the largest customer impact, like cell tower repairs.”

Once those repairs are made, the statement said crews restore service to “smaller groups of customers and individuals.”

Where Sacouman and Moore live, the landline connection is still copper wire. Bell said it’s “gradually transitioning its legacy copper network to fibre.”

“This is an intensive project that will take several years to complete. In the meantime, we continue to maintain our legacy infrastructure in areas that are not yet eligible for migration to fibre,” Hatfield said in a statement.

Lingering concerns

Since Sacouman and Moore have not been told when their service will be upgraded to fibre, their children are left wondering when the next outage will occur — and how long it will last.

Horton said she contacted the company daily during the lengthy outage and got the “complete runaround” whenever she asked for a call back.

“I would not receive a phone call. So I asked ‘who did they call?’ And they were calling the landline number that wasn’t working as opposed to calling the number that I left,” said Horton.

They’ve also learned there has been an additional outage since the January restoration.

“Luckily Jim and Barb have family who are interested and involved and local. What about the people who have family who all moved away or passed away or they never had kids … what do they do?” said Andrew Nemirovsky, Sacouman’s son-in-law.

It’s a sentiment that Sacouman said makes him emotional with appreciation.

“Many people don’t have families who can express love and solidarity as we do,” he said.