UPDATE @ 11:32 p.m.: Internet and phone provider CenturyLink is reporting that outages in Lebanon, in southwest Ohio, have been traced to a fiber damaged in Dayton, the county's emergency services director said in a prepared statement.
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The fiber “runs under a creek and they may have to bore under the creek to make repairs,” the county’s director, Melissa Bour, said in her statement.
“This could be a lengthy repair and run through the night and into the early morning hours,” she said.
CenturyLink customers in Warren County are being instructed to use a cell phone to dial 9-1-1 or dial 513-695-2525 directly to report emergency and non-emergency calls until the problem is resolved.
Meantime, the outage in other parts of the nation continue, according to the downdetector.com map.
INITIAL REPORT
CenturyLink, which offers Internet, TV, phone and home security services, is reporting outages nationwide, according to downdetector.com
A few callers to this newsroom report receiving a text alerting them to a CenturyLink outage, which knocked out some 9-1-1 voice calls.
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Outages are being reported from Los Angeles to Minneapolis, from Dallas to Ohio and along the East Coast, according to downdetector.com
CenturyLink, which serves homes and businesses in 37 states, offers TV service through satellite provider DirecTV or over the internet (IPTV) under the Prism TV brand. There are several CenturyLink locations throughout Ohio, including Miamisburg, Marysville, Columbus and Wooster.
There is no indication when the outage might be resolved.
Monday night, CenturyLink officials said they were aware of reports of a fiber cut affecting some customers in many areas of western Colorado:
We are aware of reports of a fiber cut affecting some customers in many areas of western Colorado. Our technical team is investigating. We will provide more updates via @CenturyLinkHelp as more information becomes available.
— CenturyLink (@CenturyLink) July 15, 2019
When a CenturyLink outage occurred in December 2018, the FCC investigated.
That disruption affected not only 9-1-1 voice calls in parts of the nation, but everything from Verizon mobile data to ATM withdrawals, lottery drawings, and hospital patient records.
The downtime, which also affected CenturyLink’s residential Internet customers, began Dec. 27, 2018, and stretched on for more than 24 hours.
FCC chairman Ajit Pai announced at the time that such a delay is “unacceptable” and said the commission was investigating the ongoing outage after reports of people getting busy signals when dialing 911.
“When an emergency strikes, it’s critical that Americans are able to use 911 to reach those who can help,” Pai said. “The CenturyLink service outage is therefore completely unacceptable, and its breadth and duration are particularly troubling.”
Local authorities have taken to social media to share other emergency numbers, and some are also encouraging the use of Text to 911 if voice calls are unavailable wherever someone might need help.
