Rogers Communications (RCI) has appointed a new chief technology officer (CTO) after its
national internet outage left Canadian businesses and individuals offline for more than 15 hours.
The Toronto-based telecommunications company has named Ron McKenzie as its news CTO.
He replaces Jorge Fernandes in the role. McKenzie had previously led Rogers’ business unit
that sold telecom services to corporate clients.
The network outage on July 8 left millions of Rogers’ clients unable to access wireless internet,
cell phone, or television services. The company has said that the outage resulted from a
“maintenance update.”
The outage also shutdown several important services, including 9-1-1 calls and bank machines,
leading the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), the
country’s broadcast regulator, to call on Rogers to improve its network reliability.
Rogers has said it will provide impacted customers with a five-day credit, which analysts expect
could cost the company as much as $175 million. The company is also planning to split its
wireless and cable networks into two separate units to help prevent future outages.
The system-wide internet outage has put under a microscope Rogers’ proposed $20-billion
acquisition of rival Shaw Communications (SJR), which still requires the blessing of the federal
government in Ottawa.
Rogers’ stock is down 2% this year at $46.67 per share.