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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The agreement allows Rogers customers to automatically switch 911 calls to other networks, even if there is an outage on any provider’s network.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“I believe this is the only responsible way forward, and I am personally committed to making it possible for all Canadians,” Staffieri said.<\/p>\n
The Canadian government ordered an investigation after the outage and demanded that telecommunications companies develop communication protocols within 60 days to better inform people.<\/p>\n