800 phones dead after line accidentally cut

A 1900-pair telephone cable was accidentally cut Tuesday, disrupting phone service to an estimated 800 customers. The cable damage is being blamed on construction work for the Environmental Studies Center.

"The 1900-pair cable is one of our largest cables," GTE representative Theresa Lane said. "There was extensive damage to the cable."

Phone service was down across South Campus during the week, affecting dorms and office buildings. "It was pretty contained," Lane said.

Director of Purchasing and Auxiliary Services Gary Koepp sent an all-campus email Thursday explaining the situation. Koepp is the project director of the construction and was unavailable for comment.

As of noon Thursday, Lane estimated another 12 hours of work would be necessary to restore telephone service to everyone affected by the accident.

GTE has been working on the problem since Tuesday, though the process is a tedious one. "Each cable has to be handled and spliced so it does take a long time," Lane said.

According to Lane, each cable pair is equivalent to one phone number. The approximately 800 cable pairs were broken by a back-hoe.

Much of the phone disruption was during the day hours so some students may not have realized their phones were dead. Faculty in Rice and King however did notice.

Janice Sanborn, the administrative assistant in the Economics department said the phone frustration was a big problem for Economic faculty. "Of course they've been greatly affected," she said. "But it was an accident."

"My phone was unaffected," sophomore Andrew Karlson-Weber, an RC in Dascomb said. Some of Karlson-Weber's residents were affected, however. "One came to me and said, 'Hey Andy, my phone's broken,' and I said, 'put in a work order.' It turns out it was totally unrelated."

Other students whose phones were not directly affected had trouble getting in touch with other students with dead phone lines. "I was trying to call someone and that wonderful operator voice came on and said 'this phone is no longer in service,'" senior Kim Brockway said. "[The call] was important. The problem is still unresolved, but I just thought I'd email her tomorrow."

Normally construction workers are careful to avoid disrupting power, phone, sewer and gas lines. Workers are still not certain how the line managed to be ignored.

GTE will investigate the accident before assigning blame and charge for the damage.

"Anytime we have damage done to our facilities we have an internal investigation," Lane said. She declined to comment on who would be held responsible for the accident.

Broken ground: An accident with a back-hoe at the Environmental Studies Center is being blamed for this week's phone problems. (photo by Stephen Menyhart)