Wireless outage leaves Telus customers in Western Canada off the hook for up to an hour

Some Albertans were left without wireless service on Tuesday as Telus's wireless network went down across Western Canada.

Telus customers reported their mobile data service was temporarily turned off.

The service disruption, caused by equipment failure, was restored within an hour, a Telus spokesperson said.

"We know how critical connectivity is for our customers, especially during this public health crisis and we sincerely apologize for the service interruption," Liz Sauve said in an email Tuesday morning.

Last week, Telus said it was being challenged by the expanded use of its network as more Canadians began working from home.

Toll-free calling has also surged, driven by increased calls to 1-800 help lines set up by government agencies.

Voice traffic rose by an average 45 per cent across Canada and wireless data use has increased by up to 40 per cent during peak times, a Telus statement said last week.

General text-message traffic is up by 30 per cent, while video and picture text messaging is up by 50 per cent.

Telus said its network is performing exceptionally well overall and its technicians are working around the clock to monitor and maintain capacity.

It encourages businesses to use digital or online platforms to host meetings and use local numbers for conference calls.