Hundreds of Calgary Homes Have Been Without Phone or Internet for Over a Week
Calgary residents Laurie and Chris Softley returned from vacation to their Dalhousie-area home late on August 3, and woke up the next morning to find their Wi-Fi down. By the time Global News spoke with them on August 14, they were on day 11 with no service and no clear repair timeline. They are not alone: Telus says thieves cutting copper telecommunications wires have left hundreds of Calgary-area customers without home phone, internet, or cable service for more than a week. A Telus spokesperson confirmed cable-cut damage is affecting home phone, internet, and TV service in the Ogden neighbourhood, and home phone service in Kingsland and Bowness, with a further theft-related cut reported in Dalhousie on August 14. Roughly 1,600 Telus customers in the Calgary area have been affected this month alone, and the company says copper theft has roughly doubled in 2026 as copper prices have risen.
A note on scope: HelperGen cannot repair phone or internet lines and is not an emergency service. If you have a genuine emergency, call 911 from a working cellphone. This guide is for the everyday disruption of losing home phone and internet for an extended stretch, not for infrastructure repair or emergencies.
For the households caught in the outage, the practical problem is simpler but still real: a lot of daily life quietly depends on being online or reachable by landline at home. Here is how to keep things running while you wait for a fix.
You Can Still Use HelperGen Without Home Wi-Fi
HelperGen is a mobile app that runs on your phone's cellular data, not your home internet connection. If your mobile plan is unaffected by the outage, which is the case for most people since Telus has confirmed this is a wired cable issue, you can post a task, message applicants, and pay through the app exactly as you normally would. There is nothing extra to set up.
What to Book When You've Lost Home Phone or Internet
Check-Ins for Relatives Who Rely on a Landline
If an older parent or relative in an affected neighbourhood depends on a home phone and has gone quiet, a house check-in visit is a fast way to confirm they are safe and pass along anything urgent in person, rather than waiting on a repair crew. House check-ins typically run $25 to $50 on HelperGen. For more on booking safe, trusted senior check-ins, see our guide to home help for seniors.
Errands You'd Normally Handle Online
Bill payments, banking, and paperwork that would normally take two minutes online can turn into a trip you don't have time for when you're also managing a household without a working landline. An errand runner can handle an in-person branch visit or drop-off for you. Errand running typically costs $35 to $60 per job on HelperGen.
Pet Care and Cleaning, Unaffected Either Way
None of this changes how you'd book a dog walk, drop-in pet visit, or a cleaning session. If you'd rather not spend more time on hold with your provider trying to coordinate by phone, posting through Gen Lightning takes seconds and puts everything in the app instead.
How to Book on HelperGen
Use Gen Lightning to post your task in one sentence: "Can someone check on my mom in Ogden today, her home phone has been down for over a week" or "I need someone to drop off a bill payment downtown this week" both generate a complete posting in seconds. Review applicants by their Verified Helper badge and reviews, and confirm.
All payments are held in Stripe escrow and released only when you confirm the job is complete using your Quick Pay Code, so there's no cash and no risk while you're already dealing with enough.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What caused the Telus outage affecting Calgary homes?
Telus says thieves cutting copper telecommunications wires have left hundreds of Calgary customers without home phone, internet, or cable service for more than a week. The company confirmed cable-cut damage affecting home phone, internet, and TV services in the Ogden neighbourhood, and home phone service in Kingsland and Bowness, with additional theft-related damage reported in Dalhousie on August 14. Telus says copper theft has roughly doubled in 2026 compared to a year earlier as copper prices have risen, and roughly 1,600 of its Calgary-area customers were affected this month alone. Thieves cutting for copper often sever nearby fibre-optic lines too, adding to the disruption and, according to Calgary Police, affecting emergency communications, hospitals, and agriculture as well.
Can I still use HelperGen if my home internet and phone are down?
Yes. HelperGen runs on your phone's cellular data, not your home Wi-Fi, so as long as you have a mobile data plan you can browse providers, post a task, message applicants, and pay through the app exactly as usual. If your home phone was your only working line and you rely on your cellphone for data already, nothing about how you use HelperGen changes during an outage like this.
What kinds of tasks make sense to book during a prolonged internet or phone outage?
A few categories tend to matter most. If an elderly parent or relative relies on a landline and has been unreachable, a house check-in visit confirms they are safe and lets you pass along information in person. If you normally handle bill payments, banking, or paperwork online, an errand runner can complete an in-person equivalent, such as a branch visit or a bill drop-off, while your service is down. Pet care and cleaning bookings are unaffected either way, but posting through Gen Lightning takes seconds if you would rather not spend more time on hold with your provider.
Is HelperGen able to help if this is a real emergency, not just an inconvenience?
No. HelperGen is a local services marketplace for everyday tasks like errands, pet care, and house check-ins. It cannot repair telecommunications infrastructure and is not an emergency service. If you have a genuine emergency, call 911 from a working cellphone rather than relying on a landline that may be affected by the outage. For questions about repair timelines, contact Telus directly.