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Cut Optic Line Causes Slow Internet For Many

Construction Crew Cut Major Fiber Optic Line

UPDATED: 6:42 am CDT May 22, 2008

Area Internet users might have noticed a sluggish Internet connection on Wednesday.

VIDEO: Watch The Report

A Chicago-area construction crew cut a major fiber optic line along Interstate 94 about 7 a.m. Wednesday, forcing Internet traffic to be re-routed across the Midwest.

Business and residential customers of Charter, Berbee, TDS and other providers in Wisconsin, northern Illinois and southeastern Minnesota have been affected. Many customers experienced Internet slowness and some lost service altogether.

"Many people don't understand the wires run along the interstates and highway systems, so it looks like crews dug a little too deep," said DeAnne Boegli, TDS public relations manager.

TDS said it can't put an exact number on how many customers were affected, but it said the line was fixed and service was restored Wednesday evening.

Some of the ripple effects from the incident are expected to have an effect nationally.



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