Updated
Updated · OregonLive · Jul 15
AT&T Fiber Outage Hits 1,600 Portland Customers After Damaged Lines Stall Service
Updated
Updated · OregonLive · Jul 15

AT&T Fiber Outage Hits 1,600 Portland Customers After Damaged Lines Stall Service

1 articles · Updated · OregonLive · Jul 15

Summary

  • More than 1,600 Quantum Fiber customers in North and Northeast Portland were still affected Wednesday by a dayslong outage, with AT&T giving no firm restoration time.
  • AT&T said damage to another provider’s fiber lines caused the disruption, leaving the company dependent on that local provider to fix issues outside its own network.
  • Portland customers reported service failures stretching back to July 4 or last Thursday, shifting repair estimates and sparse updates from customer service; one resident said he missed a virtual job interview.
  • The outage lands months after AT&T closed its $5.75 billion purchase of Lumen’s consumer fiber business, bringing about 1 million customers — including Portland-area users under the Quantum Fiber and CenturyLink brands — onto its network.

Insights

As Oregon invests millions in broadband, how vulnerable is its new infrastructure to similar widespread failures?
With outages costing people jobs, should providers be liable for more than just a simple refund?
Why don't residential internet plans include the automatic cellular backups that are standard for business accounts?