A faulty network component is to blame for a disruption of Internet service on New North Networks that began over the weekend and was finally resolved May 19 just after 11 p.m.

Several people and businesses, including the Inuvik Drum, were forced to work around patchy Internet connectivity, with service dropping off and resuming periodically throughout the day.

The company鈥檚 Facebook page has announced customers affected by the break in service will receive credit for the missed time.

鈥淲e are expending all our energy on the problem,鈥� said owner Tom Zubko.

Updates from the company on the status of the problem are being posted periodically on the company鈥檚 Facebook page as well as through a mailing list with registered customers.

Several people expressed their frustration with the service drop-off to Inuvik Drum.

鈥淢y New North internet has been interrupted for the last four days,鈥� said Jobby Jose Naduviledath. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what to do.鈥�

This is the second major internet outage to hit the Mackenzie Delta in less than a month. Service provided through Northwestel was disrupted on May 12 after a fibre-optic line was cut.

Further out in the Beaufort, a classroom in Ulukhaktok recently missed out on a live chat with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen because of internet connectivity issues.

Many residents in the Delta have been working around the internet outages using their mobiles.

鈥淚 think everyone鈥檚 using up their data with the internet not working,鈥� said Frost Cardinal. 鈥淲e鈥檙e living in the boonies out here!鈥�