The City of Montreal's emergency responder communications system was out of commission for two hours Tuesday evening, the latest in a string of failures that have left police and firefighters without a standard communication system.
The SERAM radio system has failed several times since it was installed in 2014, most infamously last New Years Eve when police and firefighters were forced to use their cell phones to take emergency calls.
The system cost more than $70 million to implement, $50 million more than expected.
Former Mayor Denis Coderre sat down with President and CEO of Airbus DS Communication Bob Freinberg in 2016 to discuss the soaring costs and defective equipment - but problems persist.
A police spokesperson says they now have a back up system.