Sometimes, that fiber cable just needs shootin’. A stray bullet cut through a Spectrum fiber line on Friday in Texas, knocking customers offline in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Charter, which owns Spectrum, confirmed a bullet damaged a key data cable, and almost 25-thousand reports of lost service showed up on Downdetector Friday afternoon. Other cities affected included Irving, Plano, Arlington, Austin, and San Antonio. Spectrum said teams worked quickly to make repairs and get customers back online.
It’s not even that unusual of a problem; this is the third gun-related outage Spectrum has had in the last 12 months. In June, an Ohio customer went more than a week without service after shotgun blasts damaged a cable line. Last New Year’s Eve, stray rounds in Columbus, Ohio hit Spectrum’s fiber and left customers offline for 43 hours. Many American ISPs have had similar problems, including a 2022 incident where someone shot overhead cables in Oakland, California during an NFL game.
Source: The Register
