Thousands left with no AT&T phone service
Published Friday, December 5, 2008
NATCHEZ — On Thursday afternoon a team of AT&T technicians sat deep in a hole on Main Street repairing damaged cable lines that provide valuable phone and Internet access to thousands in Natchez.
The accident that damaged the lines happened Tuesday afternoon when a work crew bored through five cable lines belonging to AT&T.
AT&T spokeswoman Sue Sperry said it’s unusual to have so many lines so severely damaged at the same time.
“It’s an extremely rare situation,” Sperry said. “There was some very serious excavation in the wrong place.”
AT&T technician Butch Davis listens to damaged lines one by one, searching for a dial tone.
But the crew that cut through the lines wasn’t working for AT&T.
City Engineer David Gardner said CableOne was permitted, and working, at the Main Street site when the lines were cut.
While no CableOne representatives could be reached for comment, Gardner said, the permit issued to the company allowed them to drill for the installation of their own cable line.
But exactly why Cable One was not aware of AT&T’s already existing lines is still not clear.
Gardner said for a permit to be issued, the applicant must include plans that indicate where utility lines are located.
In this instance, CableOne did mark sewer, water and gas lines located in relation to their drilling site, Gardner said.
Those plans did not mention AT&T’s lines. Gardner also said CableOne is legally obligated to call the state’s Mississippi One-Call system to notify them of its intent to dig before starting work.
Sperry said she did not know if One-Call had been notified before work began.
“Right now we’re not sure,” Sperry said.
However, AT&T is investigating the matter to find out what caused their lines to be completely severed.
AT&T technician Butch Davis was working to repair the lines and also said it was odd to see so many lines cut at the same time.
“It’s bad,” he said.
And Davis is just a small part of a crew that AT&T has brought in to fix the problem as quickly as possible.
Sperry said technicians will be working around the clock to repair the damaged lines.
Even with nonstop work, it could be as late as Sunday before all the lines are repaired and fully operational, Sperry said.
But for some businesses in town, going until Sunday with no phone service will prove costly.
At Sports Center accounts payable manager Sheree Bryant said not having access to phone or Internet is adding up to lost revenue for the store.
“It’s killing business,” Bryant said. “It’s a nightmare.”
Bryant said with the loss of service the store has gone from seven phone lines to just one.
In addition, the machines that process credit cards, debit cards and checks cannot be used.
The store is currently validating checks by phone and accepting cash. The store’s data entry clerk Tara Green said since many people rely on the use of their credit cards at this time of year, and cannot use them in the store, they’re just not shopping.
“Their putting (merchandise) back on the shelf,” Green said.
While Sperry said fault doesn’t fall with AT&T, they want the problem fixed quickly.
“We’re going around the clock,” she said. “We want our customers to have full use of their services.”
Sperry said she did not know exactly how many customers were without phone service.