The first weeks of September are normally chaotic for the Carleton University Bookstore, but the line stretched even further than usual Sept. 13.
The long lineups were a result of a cut fibre line on campus, the link that connects Carleton’s debit and credit card system — among other things — with the outside world, said Martin Weeks, manager of field services, fibre and wire at Bell Canada. The cut wire has affected the speed at which the bookstore is able to process transactions.
The incident occurred at 8 a.m. on the athletics side of campus where Colautti Construction is digging, Weeks said.
Weeks said he and his crew arrived on campus at 10 a.m. to begin fixing the problem.
For campus offices, the day has been a writeoff for external communication.
“Practicality speaking, for business today, we’re off the air,” said Richard Lefebvre, the manager of voice services with the department of computing and communication services.
Meanwhile, signs outside the bookstore warn students of the possibility of an extended wait.
To counter the problem, the bookstore is using four wireless card readers to keep the line moving, but they are far slower than the regular machines, said Ben Kruser, the assistant manager at the bookstore. To minimize line congestion, the sign encourages students to use their campus card or cash to make their purchases.
In addition, students wishing to return or exchange their textbooks will be unable to do so until the system is up and running.
The cut fibre is also having an impact on those looking to make calls to or from university landlines, said Lefebvre.
While off campus callers may be left with an empty line, the internal Carleton phone system is still working, meaning that one campus phone is still able to contact another.
Full service is expected to be restored prior to the start of the business day Sept. 14, according to an email sent out by the department of university communications earlier in the day. The message encouraged students to contact family and friends via cell phone and email.
As of 4:15 p.m., Weeks said his workers were in the midst of feeding in a new fibre in order to re-link the wires that were damaged.
Still, he said the incident wasn’t as bad as it could have been.
“There were six other fibres in there that they missed, which was lucky otherwise this whole area outside of campus would have been out too,” he said.
Weeks said Bell hopes to restore service to campus within the next three hours.
UPDATE: All incoming and outgoing calls were restored at 6 p.m., and Carleton’s telephone services are fully functional, according to the department of university communications.
