Phone line cuts service

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

— CenturyLink telephone customers were on an island to themselves last Wednesday when they found themselves unable to place or receive calls to any telephones - cell or land lines - not on CenturyTel.

Wednesday, May 26, a Pea Ridge resident attempted to contact the Pea Ridge Fire Department by telephone, but could not get through.

Fire Department officials were the first to contact Central Communications regarding the problem of not being able to place long distance calls, followed by the Pea Ridge Police Department.

“An AT&T fiber optic cablewas cut in Rogers by a construction crew at 2:05 p.m.,” said Jeff Jones, spokesman for CenturyLink in Pea Ridge. “That’s the connection we use to go out to the world.”

He said the incident took out long-distance service in Gateway, Garfield, Pea Ridge, Seligman, Mo., and Jacket, Mo.

“We determined it was a localized issue,” a representative from the Fire Department said, after finding out no calls could be placed out of town.

“I was more anxious to find the cause and determine the problem because of citizens not being able to use the emergency phone lines,” Police Chief Tim Ledbetter said.

Pea Ridge police officers attempted to dial 911 but were unsuccessful. The local number of 451-8220 wasalso unable to reach CENCOM because it rolls over to a Bentonville number on AT&T.

The ambulance was dispatched during the phone outage to the scene of a bicycle accident. The reporting party was able to reach CENCOM by cell phone.

The outage also affected local pharmacies.

“We had no phone or Internet from 3 p.m. to close at 5:30,” said Tina Benson from Colliers Drug.

“We were dead in the water, couldn’t receive doctor calls or call out. We couldn’t process claims or run credit cards,” she said. “Several people came in but they were understanding and came back today (Thursday).”

“It would have impacted 911 service, but would not have impacted local calls or high-speed Internet, residents should have been able to call anywhere into those five exchanges, they are on a self-standing switch,” he said.

AT&T crews found and repaired the cut at 6:10 p.m.

“They (fiber optic cables) get cut every once in a while. It’s the whole call before you dig process, but nothing’s ever perfect,” he said.

News, Pages 1 on 06/02/2010