A Telus transmission tower near Oliver was toppled by vandals last week and wireless service to the area is still disrupted. Telus said its staff is working "around the clock" to restore service. (Photo supplied)

A Telus transmission tower near Oliver was toppled by vandals last week and wireless service to the area is still disrupted. Telus said its staff is working “around the clock” to restore service. (Photo supplied)

UPDATE (March 23): Telus now reports its technicians have managed to implement a temporary solution, restoring service to the area. Telus is still working towards a permanent solution, which will take a little while longer given the magnitude of the damage involved. In the meantime, residents should be back up and running and have restored service.

One of the Telus wireless sites serving Oliver was seriously damaged by vandals last Thursday, collapsing a tower and disrupting wireless service in the area.

Liz Sauve, a spokesperson for Telus, said some customers are picking up signals from other nearby towers and may not have experienced much change in their service. Others may be experiencing degraded or intermittent service.

The site is only accessible by helicopter and the damage is extensive, requiring specialized equipment, so it will take “some time” for Telus to restore service, Sauve said. Meanwhile, Telus is working on a temporary solution that will restore some service in coming days, she added.

“Telus is working around the clock on both efforts in order to restore service as quickly as possible,” said Sauve. “This is an extremely rare situation and we greatly appreciate our customers’ patience as we work to restore their service.”

As the damage was caused by vandalism, the RCMP is investigating.

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