Note: Should the FCC (or Congress) have it's way with removing local control of video franchising - this may become the most efficient way for consumers to lodge complaints. The Telcos should take heed and be prepared to duck.

Comcast Network Suffers Gunshot Damage; 7,500 Customers Lose Service

About 7,500 Comcast customers in Palm Beach, Fla., went without cable service earlier this month after technicians discovered gunshot damage to the company’s fiber-optic main service line. The entire town’s cable service had to be shut down temporarily to fix the problem.

Service was restored to all customers by Jan. 3, said Comcast director of government and community affairs Marta Casas-Celaya. New Year's Eve revelry may have been to blame, she said. Responding to reports of service failures that began on Dec. 31, Comcast employees found service lines damaged by gunshots.

Officials surmised the gunshots were a result of New Year’s revelry. Shell casings were found near the damaged fiber and a four-foot span of fiber was peppered with buckshot.

“We don’t really know what happened, but it happened around midnight on New Year’s Eve and every year the police put out warnings about shooting guns into the air. What goes up, must come down,” she said.

Customer complaints of failures in television signals and Internet access began sporadically late Dec. 31 and increased Jan. 1 and 2. Service was compromised at more than 20 nodes, or remote terminals, each of which is connected to 150 to 200 town customers. The system had to be taken down townwide to repair the problem because the damage was to the main line serving the town, Casas-Celaya said.

“Everyone was extremely good about it. Service outages depended on the area. Some customers lost service for hours, others less than that,” Casas-Celaya said.