Telus Communications media relations responded to requests for information regarding the communications tower fire Aug. 31 north of Athabasca.
The fire knocked out cellular service in and around Athabasca for several days and while it has not been reported to have affected home WiFi services, there are issues with point-of-sale payment devices and lottery ticket sales for several businesses.
Brandi Rees with Telus said in an email, "On Saturday, voice and data traffic were successfully migrated, which enables TELUS customers to roam in the interim. We are working with the Fire Commissioner and once TELUS is granted access to the site, we will begin to analyze the tower and equipment to determine how long full restoration will take."
Rees continued, saying the tower is "a hub for four other towers, (and) that roaming is also being leveraged in these regions."
"At this time, the number of affected customers is still unknown but we are continuing to investigate," Rees stated. "A fire investigation will take place. The Fire Commissioner will be on site (Tuesday)."
Bell Mobility has not responded to inquiries.
This is a continuing story and will be updated.
