The 519 area code covered southwestern Ontario for 53 years before running out of available numbers reports CTV.

The 226 area code was introduced in 2006 to alleviate that problem.

But both area codes are expected to run out of numbers by September 2015, which has prompted the CRTC to introduce a third three-digit code for the area.

Starting June 4, 2015, 548 will join 519 and 226 as available codes for southwestern Ontario.

The CRTC says people with current 519 and 226 numbers won’t be affected by the addition of 548, which will only apply to new phones.

Area codes 519, 226 and 548 cover the western and southwestern parts of Ontario, including Windsor, London, Owen Sound, Kitchener and Brantford.

Third area codes have already been introduced in the Toronto and Hamilton areas.

As noted earlier, the Worldline call centre will take some heat.

Hi there,

First off, on behalf of all of us here at Worldline, I wish to pass along our sincerest appreciation for your continued patronage. It is because of valued customers like you that we are able to provide our telecom services to so many Canadians, and it’s something we never forget.

That is why I’m writing you today. I feel you deserve a thorough explanation for the interruption of service that occurred on Friday afternoon and went on into Saturday.

On October 18^th at 12:24 p.m., a number of fibre optic cables were accidentally cut by a piece of construction equipment drilling across the street from one of our primary data centres in Toronto.

This cut impacted us and hundreds of other companies who rely on this location for critical services, and, as you can see from the map, the range of the interruption was extensive.

By 2 p.m. our staff arrived on site to discern what had happened and to assist in the repair. Due to the extensive damage and the large number of repairs required, services were not all restored as quickly as we would have liked.

By 5 a.m. on Saturday, services in Kitchener/Waterloo, Sarnia, and Windsor were restored and all were gradually restored over a 28-hour period.

This was an unprecedented event, and we are committed to learn from it and will be implementing several strategies to avoid the severity of this impact in the future.

While we strive for 100% up-time when it comes to our network, there are those rare occasions, like when a drilling rig cuts a cable, that there will be interruptions. The best way for you to be kept apprised of what is going on at Worldline is to follow us on Facebook and Twitter, (and not just for service updates, but for things like product information and contests as well).

I hope this helps you understand  the rarity and complexity of last week’s problem and again, we appreciate your business and continued patronage.

Sincerely,

Roy Graydon
President – Worldline

Is it good to be the underdog?

According to Malcolm Gladwell no less, it is.

In David and Goliath, Gladwell turns how we think about obstacles and disadvantages on their heads, offering a new interpretation of what it means to go up against formidable opponents.

Great book, and something we actively believe in at Worldline, and it makes us feel good that a guy like Gladwell sees things the same way we do.

In battling the bigs, Gladwell puts forth three rules of engagement:

1. Changing the Shape of the Battle
2. The Act of Overwhelming Odds Produces Greatness and Beauty
3. Substituting Speed and Surprise for Strength

How is Worldline Changing the Shape of the Battle?

By not playing by the same rules as the Big Three. First, let’s be honest, we can’t. Their marketing budgets dwarf ours by several orders of magnitude. However more importantly, in striving to become more of a major player in Canadian telecom, we don’t want to become like them. We don’t want to replace them. We want to be better than them. Canadians are being overcharged for their telecom services by our opponents due to a combination of insane overheads and blind greed. We are lean, we are fair, and we are into providing the best services at the fairest prices for our customers, now, and always.

Are we Producing Greatness and Beauty? You kidding? Does this answer your question?

Our Superhero kids really are our kids – and we dare you to not call them beautiful!         We double dare you…

And finally, are we Substituting Speed and Surprise for Strength? We are nimble, we are quick, and what we are not is stuck with complexity and process that makes us, like a Supertanker, unable to change course when there is danger ahead. Do you think companies like Rogers, Telus and Bell want the terrible reputations they’ve earned over the past few months? Of course not, but they just can’t help themselves because that’s the course they have set.

Gladwell’s David and Goliath is a terrific book, and not just because it reaffirms what we are trying to do.

It’s also a great reminder how success is so much sweeter when you are beating the odds.