Verizon restores fiber services in Massachusetts, repairs on copper network continue

Verizon on Wednesday said it has restored fiber services that were disrupted on Aug. 27 in Lawrence, Mass. due to a fire under Central Bridge on North Canal Street that knocked out services for about 7,000 customers, but its copper network is still undergoing repairs.

Since Monday, the telco said it made 12,000 fiber optic splices to restore service on the fiber network that serves its residential FiOS Fiber to the Home (FTTH), business and wholesale service provider customers.

However, it is still working to restore service for 1,000 area customers on its copper network. It expects that a "vast majority" of its customers served by the copper network "will be restored in the coming days."

Besides the copper and fiber work, service to all of the local emergency dispatch centers has been restored. 911 service remained operational since the fire began because all calls were switched to alternative answering points in nearby communities.  Likewise, service to hospital and medical centers has been restored.

The service provider will continue to splice new cables and restore service for remaining customers that reside or work in Lawrence and North Andover.

According to Verizon, heat from a smoldering mattress that was placed on top of an array of 60 PVC conduits melted and fused both the area fiber and copper cables and their protective covers. Although these conduits were encased in a chain-link cage, local public safety officials said it was broken into.

For more:
- see the release

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