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Roughly 1,000 Frontier customers without phone, internet because of outage

The outage was caused by a contractor who drilled through a Frontier Communications fiber-optic line.
 
Frontier Communications Corp. customers in North Tampa are experiencing an internet and phone service outage because of severed fiber-optic and copper lines. The outage is ongoing. Pictured is Frontier's Tampa office in 2016. | [ MONICA HERNDON | Times, 2016]
Frontier Communications Corp. customers in North Tampa are experiencing an internet and phone service outage because of severed fiber-optic and copper lines. The outage is ongoing. Pictured is Frontier's Tampa office in 2016. | [ MONICA HERNDON | Times, 2016]
Published Aug. 22, 2019|Updated Aug. 22, 2019

TAMPA — About 1,000 Frontier Communications customers are without phone, internet and video service in Tampa after a contractor accidentally severed a length of the internet provider’s fiber-optic and copper lines, Frontier said.

The outage began Wednesday evening when a construction contractor working for a commercial retailer drilled into the lines on North Dale Mabry Highway between Zambito Road and Hoedt Road. The outage affects Frontier customers in the immediate area.

Inclement weather Wednesday evening delayed getting the lines repaired and reconnected, but Frontier expects to finish repairs by Thursday night or Friday morning.

“We thank our customers and the communities we serve for their patience as our crews work diligently to repair damages and restore services,” Bob Elek, Frontier spokesman, said in a statement.

According to Elek, customers affected by the outage will begin to come back online throughout the day.

Because the outage lasted at least 24 hours, customers can contact Frontier for a credit for that time, which will amount to one day’s charges for the service, Elek said. Affected customers can call (800) 239-4430.