Vandals attack AT&T network, Santa Cruz & Gilroy without phones (San Jose: 2009)

[sonarrat]

By MALIA WOLLAN

Published: April 10, 2009

Tens of thousands of residents in Silicon Valley woke up to find themselves without Internet access or landline or wireless phone service after vandals apparently severed fiber optic cables, according to the police. Officials suspect that saboteurs opened manhole covers in San Jose and San Carlos, south of San Francisco, in the early morning hours and cut multiple fiber optic cables belonging to AT&T and Sprint. Approximately 52,000 Verizon landline and wireless customers were also without service. The police said they had no motive for the sabotage. AT&T is offering $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the vandals.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/10/us...RF.html?ref=us

Didn't affect me either at work or home, but essentially the whole South County area - Morgan Hill, San Martin, Gilroy - and parts of Santa Cruz County were without phone, internet, or even CELL phones. Info has come to light in the past few hours that four cuts were made, not just two, with the unreported ones being from Burlingame and in south San Jose at Bernal/Monterey (the original one was at Blossom Hill/Monterey).

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by sonarrat

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/10/us...RF.html?ref=us

Didn't affect me either at work or home, but essentially the whole South County area - Morgan Hill, San Martin, Gilroy - and parts of Santa Cruz County were without phone, internet, or even CELL phones.

They have phones/electricity down there?


[OK, that wasn't nice]

[MichaelinWA]

I hope they catch these people. The Mercury News had a piece that noted how vulnerable underground communications lines would be in the event of a major earthquake, especially in light of how "easy" it was for vandals to cause such disruption with cable cutters.

[bigdumbgod]

Sensors on the manhole covers. Open one up - Ding Ding Ding!