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Call Before You Dig. This Means You, Rogers

By Val Dodge

Bell Telephone Line: 0; Rogers Shovel: 1
We wouldn’t suggest for a second that the competition between Bell and Rogers has gotten so fierce that Rogers has resorted to cutting its rival’s cables to pick up new subscribers. We’re sure it was just an accident. An accident that happened often enough to prompt someone to tape this note to a utility box in front of an East York house.
Doesn’t Rogers call before they dig? Tellingly, Rogers is one of the few companies in the GTA that is not part of Ontario One Call, an organization that will locate its members’ underground cables and pipes for homeowners and contractors. Rogers uses a separate service, DigLine Ontario. Surely it doesn’t cause them any confusion.
Photo by Val Dodge.

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Comments

  • dudeman

    so… why are you blaming rogers when DigLine is the one who cut the line?

  • Val Dodge

    Dude, DigLine doesn’t dig, and didn’t cut anything. They’re the ones who paint lines on the ground to locate cables for homeowners or contractors who are about to dig. DigLine only locates Rogers cables in Toronto; for virtually everything else, you need to call Ontario One Call. Rogers obviously didn’t call anyone before they dug.

  • Vincent Clement

    Talk about two crappy looking websites.

  • toddernst

    Interesting. We use Cogeco for all of our services in Oakville and Bell came along and dug up my wife’s garden, cut our Cogeco line (twice…once during the initial dig and then again when filling in thte hole) and did some minor damage to the driveway. Fortunately my wife is a proud gardener and had picutes of what it looked like before the Bell guys destroyed it and received a substantial reimbursement for damages.
    I’m not sure it matters whether DigLine or Ontario One Call does the work. These guys are all incompetent (or worse…going out of their way to cut competitors lines).

  • Patrick Metzger

    As I read it, what both DigLine and OneCall do for members is notify them when someone wants to dig in their area so they can provide location of their lines/pipes etc. Anyone who wants to dig can call either or both services to get the locating done; hence it wouldn’t make any difference to which service a company belonged, or if it belonged to one at all.
    Am I wrong?

  • Val Dodge

    Each organization only works with its members. DigLine will only take locate requests for Rogers cables and can’t help you find Bell cables or Enbridge pipes. One Call does the same for virtually everyone but Rogers.

  • Doggiez

    I remember, as a 10-year-old, digging in the laneway behind my friend’s house. We were about three feet down and, his mother’s garden trowel, hit a thick black cord. Pulling it to the surface with all our might, we thought, “Cool!” and didn’t realize it was a Bell cable. We put it back, but within a month, saw a sign at that exact spot stating: “Call before you dig.” I’d like to think my childhood (mis)adventures were responsible for these signs, but back in the day, all kids were digging holes, lifting manhole covers and sewer grates, or frying ants with a magnifying glass.
    Happy days, indeed!

  • Patrick Metzger

    What I’m saying is that Rogers can – and presumably should – place a locate request with OneCall,regardless of whether they’re a member or not. Everyone has equal access to info on locations of other people’s lines.
    Membership in the smaller org is only relevant if you’re trying to find Rogers lines and don’t know to call DigLine.