Crews have continued working to repair a damaged communications line that has caused a regional outage of Spectrum internet service in Montana.
According to Spectrum spokesperson Bret Picciolo, crews resumed work on Saturday morning after stopping Friday night due to lack of daylight and the terrain.
The cause of the damage has not yet been determined; Picciolo said an investigation will start after repairs are complete.
Spectrum has not provided an estimated time for when service might be restored.
The company says it will work with customers individually regarding crediting their account for lost service time.
Spectrum has declined to release any other information about the outage, including where it happened.
(October 5, 2018) A regional outage of Spectrum internet service continues to plague customers across parts of Montana.
The outage began at about 7 p.m. on Thursday, and as of 6:30 p.m. on Friday, the service is still out for Great Falls Falls and other areas, including Havre, Malta, and Chinook.
Spectrum has not provided an estimated time for when service might be restored.
Spectrum spokesman Bret Picciolo provided the following information to KRTV:
“Damage to a third-party carrier’s fiber-optic network is disrupting services for Spectrum customers in the area. That carrier has been engaged and is working to repair the damage and restore service as quickly as possible.
The damage occurred last night but crews were unable to access the site until this morning for safety reasons. Access to the site is controlled by the power company and crews were unable to access the damage until the power company deemed the area safe to enter.
The damage occurred on aerial line over a ravine. Due to geographic challenges in the area the damage occurred, technicians are currently working to put a temporary solution in place in order to restore service as quickly as possible.
Regarding credits: We will work individually with customers who were impacted.”
NorthWestern Energy spokesman Butch Larcombe sent the following message to KRTV:
The outage is result of damaged communications line and NorthWestern Energy has been working with the communications company to facilitate repairs since last night.
