A massive telephone outage in Northern California is affecting parts of the state's Silicon Valley, home to many high-tech companies.
The San Jose Mercury News reported telephone and Internet outages for Verizon customers in Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties.
Police said a number of AT&T fiber-optic cables were deliberately severed, causing a loss of telephone and Internet service in San Jose and other communities. The outage included disruptions to 911 emergency systems.
John Britton, a spokesman for AT&T, told the Mercury News that the company believes someone climbed down a manhole and cut several fiber-optic cables.
AT&T is in the midst of labor negotiations with the Communication Workers of America, but the CWA denies any connection to the incident and issued a statement saying the union "condemns vandalism."