Turlock customers lose Internet service when line is cut

TURLOCK -- All Charter Communications customers in Turlock and surrounding areas lost their Internet service Tuesday night because a fiber-optics line was cut.

Service restoration began a little after 1 p.m. Wednesday. Charter spokeswoman Anita Lamont said an underground fiber line run by Qwest and used by Charter was reported severed about 9 p.m. Tuesday. The cut disabled all Internet services and some video-on-demand and high-definition channel access for Charter customers in Turlock and other areas including Ceres, Riverbank, Delhi and Waterford.

The fiber-optics line in question was cut about three miles outside of Oakland. Qwest, which owns the lines and contracts their use to Charter, began working on the repairs Tuesday night but was hindered by rain. Lamont said the cause of the cable cut was under investigation.

"It was severed, so that's unusual, also because the lines are underground," she said.

Lamont did not know the total number of customers who lost service in the Turlock area, but all who subscribe to the company's data services were affected. Regular cable services were not interrupted.

Customers in Redding also lost their Internet service because of the same incident.

Bee staff writer Marijke Rowland can be reached at mrowland@modbee.com or (209) 578-2284.