Spectrum service cut in chunk of north-central Montana

2:58 p.m.

Spectrum gave an update this afternoon on damage that led to internet, telephone and television service boing out Thursday night and still being out this afternoon.

Spectrum spokesman Bret Picciolo said the damage occurred on aerial line over a ravine.

“Due to (the) geographic challenges in the area the damage occurred, technicians are currently working to put a temporary solution in place in order to restore service as quickly as possible,” Picciolo said.

AT&T Rocky Mountain Lead Public Relations Manager Suzanne Trantow said some wireless customers in the Havre area may be experiencing problems with their service due to fiber damage in another provider's network.

A large swath of north-central Montana lost telephone, internet and television service last night in the midst of NFL Thursday Night Football, Major League Baseball playoff games and prime-time television programming when a fiber-optic cable was damaged, with people still waiting for service to be restored this morning.

Some Havre businesses were reporting they were unable to take credit card payments due to the outage.

“Damage to a third-party carrier’s fiber-optic network is disrupting services for Spectrum customers in the Havre area,” Spectrum spokesman Bret Picciolo said in an email this morning. “That carrier has been engaged and is working to repair the damage and restore service as quickly as possible.”

Services are also impacted in the Great Falls, Malta, Chinook and Harlem areas, Picciolo said.

“The damage occurred last night but crews were unable to access the site until this morning for safety reasons,” he said. “Access to the site is controlled by the power company and crews were unable to access the damage until the power company deemed the area safe to enter.”

Picciolo’s email did not respond to a question asking if customer bills would be prorated due to loss of service.