Canadian telecommunications provider Rogers Communications is investing US$7.74 billion in artificial intelligence over the next three years. The announcement came weeks after the company suffered a failure that left millions of customers stranded.
Rogers CEO Tony Staffieri outlined the company’s goals and actions to prevent future incidents, noting that the company is close to finalizing a formal agreement with other carriers.
The agreement allows Rogers customers to automatically switch 911 calls to other networks, even if there is an outage on any provider’s network.
Staffieri pointed out that the company physically separates wireless and internet services in order to create an “always-on” network to ensure that customers do not experience a repeat outage of mobile and internet services.
“I believe this is the only responsible way forward, and I am personally committed to making it possible for all Canadians,” Staffieri said.
The Canadian government ordered an investigation after the outage and demanded that telecommunications companies develop communication protocols within 60 days to better inform people.
The sources for this piece include an article in Reuters.
