CenturyLink Fiber Trunk severed in multiple locations knocks out communications to basin [UPDATED]

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Crews from CenturyLink work to repair the damaged fiber cable in Jackson County that knocked out communications to the Klamath Basin. (Image: Ryan Niemi)

Crews from CenturyLink work to repair the damaged fiber cable in Jackson County that knocked out communications to the Klamath Basin. (Image: Ryan Niemi)

UPDATE: 6:00 AM, 10/19/19

According to Kerry Zimmer, Senior Communications Manager for CenturyLink, all services have been restored as of 5:09 AM.

ORIGINAL

The Klamath Basin has been with out internet most of the day and into the night. Pictured above is one of the damaged locations on the CenturyLink fiber trunk located along Dead Indian Memorial Road in Jackson County. (Image: Ryan Niemi)

At 8:20 AM, Friday, October 18, 2019, a CenturyLink Fiber Optic Trunk Cable located in Jackson County along Dead Indian Memorial Road was severed in multiple locations, causing a widespread communications outage in and around the Klamath Basin.

Thousands of users and hundreds of businesses have been without internet, telephone, and data services most of the day and into the night on Friday. Everything from checking email to credit card transactions have been affected.

In a statement from CenturyLink, Kerry Zimmer, Senior Communications Manager states, “Our technicians are working to repair the severed fiber that was cut by a boring [auger] machine earlier today near Ashland, Oregon  affecting some of our internet customers in Klamath Falls. We expect the services to be restored by midnight tonight.”

It is believed that a road crew installing new signs along Dead Indian Memorial Road struck CenturyLink’s fiber optic trunk cable in multiple locations causing severe damage to the cable.

“The damage is extensive, I counted at least five places along a mile of Dead Indian where road crews hit the fiber while installing road signs, and CenturyLink crews are working on each,” said Ryan Niemi, CTO of FireServe Broadband Internet on an in person examination of the damage.

Original reports stated that the damage was on Highway 66. Later corrected to Dead Indian Memorial Road.

The following networks have reported either partial outages or complete outages in the Klamath Basin - Charter/Spectrum, CenturyLink, AT&T Wireless, T-Mobile, and Sprint. Some Verizon Wireless customers have reported issues while others state the service is working.

Customers from FireServe Broadband Internet and Cal-Ore Fiber Internet appear to be unaffected. KFN has also received reports that US Cellular customers are also unaffected.

On the national level there have been several issues involving communications via multiple carriers today. However, we have yet to uncover any solid answers as to why those issues are occurring. Nonetheless, it is highly unlikely that the issues faced in the Klamath Basin due to the fiber trunk being severed are related to any others throughout the nation.  


What is a Fiber Optic Trunk Cable?

According to Cables-and-networks.com, “A fiber trunk cable is any fiber optic cable that is capable of supporting multiple users or devices from one point to another.  A trunk cable is a convenient and economical alternative to running multiple "jumpers" or individual cables.  It can have from 4 to 144 fibers per trunk and distribute multiple data channels.”

“Fiber optic assemblies, unlike the equivalent copper assemblies, have very tight  assembly tolerances that are hard to achieve in the field.  If the  glass has even the smallest scratch or smudge, not to mention fractures,  high loss will result, which bogs down network throughput.  As a  result, expensive equipment, highly trained laborers and a suitable work  environment are required to terminate fiber assemblies.”