People flock to cafés scouring for internet during massive Rogers outage

People are scrambling to find internet access amid a massive Rogers outage Friday morning that is affecting wireless, cable and internet customers across the country.

The outage started around in the early hours Friday morning prompting companies, emergency service and governmental institutions to issue announcements about service delays and cancellations.

Due to the outage, cafés and restaurants across the province are bustling and have turned into makeshift office spaces as people rush to find internet access.

In Toronto, people unable to get a seat inside cramped cafés, could be seen hovering around the shops in hopes of being connected. Some people even sat on the concrete outside in order to work and complete school assignments.

“I woke up and I was like, ‘oh I must have to redo my Internet’ and there was nothing, went to Starbucks, there was nothing and then there was this little great cafe, they were like, ‘we have Wi-Fi, come sit,” said Sarah Soteroff who normally works from home, but was perched on the windowsill outside the Purple Penguin Cafe Friday morning.

People on social media reported massive lines at Starbucks and other cafés. Some café employees expressed relief at not working today and dealing with the massive crowds.

In addition to the crowds, several of the cafés are also struggling with accepting payments due to the Rogers’ outage impacting credit and debit services.

“It’s hectic you know, we have the square reader we’re trying to connect it, it’s not working for any interact purchases,” one café worker told CTV news Toronto.

Greg Salmela, who works for a small branding business, said that without Internet at his office, he too moved to work at a café. He said he had an important meeting with a new client.

“Is this going to be a one hour problem, a six hour problem or is this a week, we have no idea and we can’t plan,” Salmela said. 

GO Transit issued a Tweet on Friday morning, saying fares cannot be purchased using debit and credit cards, and that their e-tickets may not be available.

Rogers issued a Tweet Friday apologizing for the outage.

“On behalf of all of us at Rogers, we sincerely apologize to our customers, and we will continue to keep you updated as we have more information to share, including when we expect service to be back up,” the telecommunications giant said.