Verizon's Florida customers affected by rodents

Wireline, wireless voice services disrupted from Tampa to Orlando

November 21, 2012 | By Sean Buckley

Verizon (NYSE: VZ) on Tuesday reported that rodents that made a home inside one of its fiber cable boxes in Orange County, Fla. caused service disruptions for its wireline and wireless customers located in towns from Tampa to Orlando.

The telco said that the issue began in Eatonville, Fla., known as the hometown of writer Zora Neale Hurston, sometime around noon and 1 p.m. ET.

Bob Elek, a Verizon spokesman, told the Tampa Tribune that technicians were able to resolve problems for some customers right away, while making a temporary repair for other customers by 6 p.m. Elek added that its workers were looking for a permanent solution.

What apparently happened was either a group of squirrels or rats made a nest inside of a cable connecting case and ate through the fiber cable.

Elek said that telco did not know how many customers were impacted by the rodent damage.