Land-Line Phone Back to Normal — Work Remains on Cell & Data Lines

from Stan Matthews, County Information and Internet Manager

Nov. 10, 2013 — In its morning conference call with state and local agencies, CenturyLink representatives reported that the company’s temporary measures have created enough capacity to handle all of the landline calls placed between San Juan County’s islands and to the mainland.

However, cell phone service in the County is still spotty, cell connectivity with 911 emergency dispatch has not been fully restored, many dedicated “T1” data lines have not been restored, and on San Juan Island, DSL Internet Service remains well below its previous capacity.

The company offered no updated estimate on the full restoration of service through the repair or replacement of the damaged underwater cable. Two specially equipped barges have now arrived and been deployed in the area. Dive teams and robotic submarines are scanning the cable, trying to pinpoint the break. Ultimately, the damaged section of the cable will be brought to the surface for repair.

Barring complications, the repair plan is to run a new 6,000-foot section of fiber optical cable from Lopez Island, past the point of the break (approximately one mile off shore), and splice it onto the remaining good section of cable connecting to the mainland.

The company says that process will take at least “several days.”

To deal with isolated problems and identify areas of trouble, the San Juan County Department of Emergency Management (DEM) has established an online system to report trouble. Residents are encouraged to use an online form at https://TinyURL.com/moqurw3 to report phone-related problems. To report emergencies, DEM says that landline phones should still be the first option, and emails addressed to 911@sanjuanco.com will also reach the dispatch center. Cell phones should still be considered a back-up.

The “T1” data lines that remain to be restored by CenturyLink are, according to the company, the type commonly used by customers such as banks for financial transactions, government agencies, pharmacies, and real estate agencies.

CenturyLink said more data lines will be restored soon and noted that Federal Communications Commission has granted the company a license to use a radio transmitter to create an additional data link between San Juan and Lopez Island. By the end of the day Tuesday, November 12, that link is expected to bring the company’s combined voice and data capacity up to more than two‑thirds of the level it was prior to the early morning failure of an underwater communications cable early on November 5.

Friday, November 8, the County Council adopted an emergency declaration, which will enable government agencies, and potentially local businesses that have suffered due to the outage, to seek financial reimbursements for costs associated with dealing with the emergency.