Rain delays phone, Internet restoration in West Lafayette

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - A Frontier Communications spokesman tells News 18 almost all of West Lafayette’s phone and Internet is restored, but that this week’s rain delayed some restoration.

“All that’s left are 127,000 pairs of copper cable,” General Manager Dave Sorg said.

It sounds like a lot, but according to Sorg, compared to the number of cables already fixed, it’s a small amount.

As News 18 first reported Friday, Oct. 5, a local construction crew was working on the roundabout at Yeager Road and Cumberland Avenue when crews mistakenly ripped up roughly 200 feet of fiber optic cable and made thousands of cuts to copper wire. It knocked out phone and Internet connections for thousands of West Lafayette residents.

Frontier crews have been working night and day ever since to repair the mishap.

Sorg said on Thursday that his crews most recently finished working on copper cables for the Lindberg Road and Salisbury Street area, containing 200-300 customers. Sorg explained that all customers south of Sagamore Parkway should see restored service by midnight, or 12 a.m., Friday.

Sorg also said all businesses on Sagamore Parkway and on Salisbury should be back on the grid as far as Internet and phone lines, according to his records. If a business still does not have service, it is urged to contact Frontier.

As for the rest of West Lafayette’s customers still without communication nearly one week later?

“We were delayed by rain the other day, so some customers north of Sagamore Parkway won’t see service return until Saturday night,” Sorg said.

He says roughly 300 customers are still without communication between Cumberland Avenue and Sagamore, and about 200 are still without their lines north of Cumberland.

“Within the next 48 to 72 hours, those customers should see phone and Internet restored,” Sorg said.

He also mentioned Frontier has a backup of more than 500 calls from customers about the outage. He said once crews have restored an area, they will begin proactively calling customers one by one to make sure everything went smoothly.

Sorg added that Frontier is thankful for customers’ patience, and he assured News 18 once again that Frontier crews have been working 24 hours a day, seven days a week to repair the outage.

If you have restored phone service but no Internet (or vice versa), Frontier wants to know about it, so contact them by either phone (877-699-7488) or Internet to address the problem.

At the end of our interview, Sorg talked about the importance of calling before you dig.

“It’s incredibly important that people don’t dig before you call,” Sorg said.

The number to call before you start any construction project is simple: 811. You can also call 800-382-5544. The lines are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

You can also head to Indiana811 ’s website for more information.

Stick with News 18 and WLFI.com for continuing updates on the outage.