Vandalism likely in Gig Harbor, Wash., Cell, Internet outages

(TNS) – The circumstances are unclear, but multiple telecommunications companies said vandalism led to cellphone and Internet outages in the Key Peninsula and Gig Harbor areas earlier this month.

Main Peninsula residents posted on social media on July 9 that they had lost CenturyLink and Verizon service.

Both companies said News Tribune that the cause was vandalism. A spokesman for the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department said the agency had no report on it. A spokesman for the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office said the same.

said Lumen (CenturyLink’s parent company) spokesman Matt Villarreal News Tribune via email on July 10 that: “several customers in the Gig Harbor, Wash., area experienced service outages due to a fiber cut caused by vandalism. All service has now been restored. Our technicians identified the problem and worked hard to fix it as soon as possible We know staying connected is important and we appreciate our customers’ patience and understanding.”

Asked for additional details about the vandalism, which agency would be investigating and how many customers were affected, he wrote on July 11: “We have had a few isolated service outages affecting a small number of customers in the Gig Harbor and Key areas Peninsula. due to the ongoing vandalism, we have been in daily contact with law enforcement and restoring services is our top priority.

Villarreal did not answer News Tribune‘s the question of how many customers were affected.

Verizon spokesman Alexis Madrigal said News Tribune via email on July 10 that “a third-party vendor was experiencing problems, causing a service outage for some customers in and around the Key Peninsula. Our engineers worked with our vendor partners and this issue was resolved by approximately 10:00 p.m.” July 9 .

Told of Lumen’s account, Madrigal wrote on July 12: “We can confirm it was vandalism.”

She didn’t answer News Tribune‘s the question of how many customers were affected.

Asked for additional information about the vandalism and which agency would be investigating, Madrigal referred News Tribune in the river.

There has been some confusion among residents on social media as to whether telecommunications crews working in the area, possibly Comcast, led to the recent outage.

“For questions or concerns about the construction work being done on the Key Peninsula, please contact our business partner – Cannon,” Comcast spokesman Andy Colley said. News Tribune by email July 11.

Cannon Companies, a Milton-based utility contractor, did not respond News TribuneJuly 11th email or voicemail.

Asked for any additional information Comcast could share, including the number of customers affected, Colley wrote on July 11: “There is nothing I can say given our network engineers say we have not experienced an outage on our existing footprint in Pierce County this week. It may be possible that vandals cut some service provider cables that didn’t include Comcast, but that’s just my speculation.

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