Tim Leeds Havre Daily News tleeds@havredailynews.com
A cut telecommunications cable Wednesday once again disrupted service in parts of Montana including north-central Montana. Triangle Communications issued a press release this morning stating that a contractor cut a fiber optic cable at about 3 p.m. West of Fort Benton, causing reduced long distance, toll free, wireless and internet capabilities in north-central Montana. Enhanced 911 service in the Winifred, Moore and Denton areas was also affected, the release said, adding that various telecommunications compaNies use the cable to transport voice and data services. Johnna Hoff of Qwest said the cut in the cable, the use of which Qwest leases, disrupted service to some Qwest customers in Havre and Lewistown. Triangle was notified immediately and sent a repair crew, which had the cable operational by approximately 5:10 p.m., it said in the release. Telephone, cell and Internet service was also disrupted when a Triangle fiber was cut July 9 between Fort Benton and Loma by a contractor working for Triangle. Service was impacted in an area from Conrad to Glasgow and down to Billings, starting at 10:30 a.m. and running into the evening. Triangle provides local telephone service to 18,000 access lines in 39 exchanges in 16 counties. Hoff said other service provided by Qwest along the routes the fiber serves may also have lost some service Wednesday, but Havre and Lewistown appear to be the primary areas affected for her company, she said. Customers in Havre would primarily have experienced congestion in their long distance service, although service was never completely disrupted, Hoff said. In Lewistown, customers lost their long distance service completely, she said. Cell phone service and local telephone service did not appear to be disrupted in the Qwest service, she said.
