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."
Yeah, right.
Is there ANYONE out there that believes someone other than the CWA is responsible?
Goons need to be treated like goons.
[and, plaeezeee ... I don't want to hear from any wife who claims their Hubert is a hard-working CWA and they're all honorable men.]
Blackbeered, even if it is found that an individual from the CWA is responsible, it would be unfair to blame the entire union for one criminal.
I do hope the CWA is cooperating with efforts to locate the culprit.
tell that to jimme hoffa
tell that to Jimmie Hoffa.
tell that to Jimmie Hoffa.
tell that to Jimmie Hoffa.
I think whomever did this should be considered terrorists and tried as such
It can't be the same CWA that has scheduled tap-outs, stand-ups and rattling of cans filled with objects, passes out condoms(we won't be screwed), and plastic sandwich bags containing a slice of bread with a note saying "No S**t Sandwiches"......there's no way I'm sure.
Yes.. unions have become like the mafia of yesteryear.
That's not true.
Unions were born in the mafia of yesteryear.
And yes, that IS true.
Who else would know what cables would cause the most damage. There is no question that the @!$%#s in the CWA are responsible. They should be glad they have a job. I am sure there are a lot of Americans that would take their place.
I think a person that cut the cable is a piece of garbage because they have no right to punish the customers for a labor dispute, however; try working for one of these companies and say you hate unions. I now work for a non union shop and people get fired for reasons like heart attacks and sick family members when they have to miss work. The comment that its good to have a job is true to a point but that does not mean AT@T is not a piece of garbage as well.
That's not true.
robert-294233
I also agree with you that these corporation are much worse than the Unions
loisanddave
I know and I am not a CWA worker. I am sure that a lot of non-union communication workers know a lot more about it than a lot of union workers. (And I can tell you why if you really want to know).
Homeland Security will get right on it....HAAAAHAAAAAA man i a funny
What really blows me away is that the net itself doesn;t have more redudant paths. Failure of cables i one manhole causing An outage of this scale is unimaginable.
If you knew the topology of the networks you wouldnt be suprised
That's why it was an inside job.
ONLY a CWA worker would know where to make such a small cut ... to have such a devastating impact.
More important, he/she she educated 10,000 AMERICAN muslims on the next wave of threats. More importantly, if Homeland Security does not get involved, it creates a cover to have those Muslims within AT&T and LUCENT which are about 3-4% of the total workforce to be protected under the law, with a minor crime of labor.
Stupid AMERICA
I find it disturbing that the CWA called it mere "vandalism", when you affect that many companies, AND 911 system, that is way more then mere "vandalism" If there was an emergency and somone needed immediate life saving help, but can't get it with 911, now you have somone who could die or lose their home to fire because 911 doesn't work. In addition, companies, high tech and otherwise, are doing theri best to stay above water, and keep people employed, and then the internet they depend on for revenue is lost, even if only for an hour or two, they are going to lose quite a bit of money.
In an area that large, you know some one died or needed help during that time period and souldnt call for help.
Here lawyer lawyer , lawyer ...
Precursor to more surveillance, more security and less freedom. Now sewers are the domain of terrorists.... Maybe we could get some airport screeners to check people coming and going at manholes.
"Please place your utility belt in the tray and remove your steel-toed boots."
Yup. Here we go people. Dont fall for this cybersecurity BS. The 'powers that be' want to regulate the internet like cable. Its amusing seeing their fruitless attempts fail. The people are waking up to their shenanegans and its not working.
PS: Watch our for those "sewer terrorists."
It's funny... a computer nerd in his basement is proud of taking down 3000 computer networks... another guy crawls into sewage and cuts a few wires - takes down 50,000 networks, phone service and 911... scary thought to me at least.
Unions,Obama supporters one and all.Just ask GM as they prepare for bankruptcy.
George Bush cut the wires.
I'm sorry I meant Obama had them cut.
wait, wait...it was Cheney!
we're through the looking glass here people!!
No. Obama had Hillary cut them. He didn't have the gonads to do it.
our lights went out today too. Turns out it was a transformer :)
There you go. Another terrorist attack. Only this time it was the IBEW
It couldn't happen to a more deserving community. Calif should slide into the Pacific.
...and then Carl starts paying quadruple for his veggies and fruit 'cause we produce most of what he eats.
And if you think the economy is bad now, see what happens when the 8th largest economy in the world (yes WORLD) suddenly stops.
Just thought I'd throw that out there :-)
very "nice" comment. I have relatives in CA
They have my sympathy.
CARL THE PLUMBER
What makes you think it couldn't happen in your community? Perhaps yours is deserving too.
Some of you people need to get a life. CWA didn't cut the cables it was probably one of their members that works for the telecom. Now how would cutting a fiber optic line benefit contract negotiations if they are NOT on strike. It does nothing because now you have to go fix what your broke. But on the other hand if its done while there is a strike then you have to have a scab or contractor fix it and gooood luck with that. Also Manholes don't mean its a sewer sheesh. Telecom manholes have no correlation to storm drains or sewage lines. Every att truck has GPS on it. If it was a telecom employed they will know exactly who it was very quickly. Both sides will throw propoganda around. Believe what you want, but know the truth
the union doesn't believe in violence, i don't believe the sun comes up every day and the democrats don't believe in tax increases
And I have some ocean front property in Arizona if you're interested.
Who dares pull something like this. This is a crime on a massive scale.
Who dares? Unions dare. They will even resort to outright murder if that what it takes to get a stronghold on an industry. Just ask hundreds of non-union truck drivers (or in some cases, the families of the drivers) who have had large rocks or bricks dropped from overpasses onto their windshields.
And yes, Not a Rep. That IS true.
Just wait, this is only practice.
This is only some tard who knew where the backbone was and used about 3 brain cells to sever the lines.
just wait until someone from within the industry who knows a lot decides to do something bad.
Its going to be bad when the relatively small number of Fujitsu FlashWave fiber MUX installations are turned off for a day, then you will see some real pain and fireworks.
Let me give you all a tidbit of inside knowlege - Those Flashwaves are the upper eschellon of the world fiber exchange network. When someone turns those boxes off, it will affect half the planet.
I was privy to see and touch the very 1st ones in 1999 before they were sent to the feild.
people in my department were already talking about how easy it would be to access one and screw it all up.
In how many languages can you say "panic" ?
Its only a matter of time.
You know what? The Police departments throughout the country should take measured steps and be prepared to take actions for some crazy nuts out there in the whole country. Every crazy minded person is trying to make things worst in this country. We really don't have what one would call a trully patriotic person now a day. People take pleasure to see people get hurt, and will walk around with their video camera to film; then, sit down to watch and laught about it. We are living in a country where reality is hard to accept and understand. The reality is people want to see blood, explosions, killings. They really take pleasure watching those things and will try everyhing in their power to make them happend. Therefore, We , Citizen of the States of America must take precautions and watch our backyards for intruders, They will really hurt people. We must learn how to protect our land not only with our guns but as well as with our mind and soul and every elecronic equipment and, also conventional equipments in case of diaster. We can not concentrate only on the terroists out side the country. We have American citizens also which are worst then those terrorists. So let us not forget our obligations in our home land.
"We have American citizens also which are worst then those terrorists."
One could say that having your communications provider violate your rights by spying on you is an act of terrorism or even...an act of treason.
And no, I do neither condone nor empathize with the criminals who have perpetrated this act of vandalism.
This is obviously the work of squirrels.
Large, muscular squirrels with a working knowledge of fiber optic technology...wearing teeny, weeny hardhats!
These kinds of infrastructure crimes may increase as disgruntled people strike back at corporate overlords.
Given the greed and arrogance of the corporations vs. the disruption to smaller businesses and safety concerns to everyday people, it's hard to pick a side.
At one time we had alternatives....diversity and public oversight. With most communications, energy production and food production consolidating under larger and more powerful corporations, how can the common people fight back?
One might say, just don't buy from them, but then what?
What will America be like when everything is owned and controlled by a few corporations? AT&T;, Microsoft, WalMart, GE and Monsanto.
On the other hand, to live in a modern society there must be communications to conduct business and address safety issues and access to a safe food supply.
Perhaps public oversight of corporations and maintaining a level playing field for competition and diversity in things like food, energy, finance and technology aren't such a bad idea.
I agree with you.
The problem here is that our wonderfull government thru the years has allowed monopolies to spread, and eliminate competition.
Its really a basic concept that we see tearing our nation apart, driven by greed.
If the government actually did their jobs for the people, instead of serving their corporate lobby supporters, life here would be so much better.
Does anyone whos older than 40 actually think the nation has improved since the 1950's?
its pretty clear to everyone except babies and children not old enough to know what it was like - that we as a nation HAVE GONE BACKWARDS NOT FORWARD.
Strip every ammendment made to the constitution after world war 2.
Where is Teddy Roosevelt when we need him?
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Cutting thos cables was an act of democracy. Companies need to open their eyes. They don't own this country.
Cutting thos cables was an act of democracy. Companies need to open their eyes. They don't own this country.
They don't think they own the country. They think the own the people in it.
Cutting thos cables was an act of democracy. Companies need to open their eyes. They don't own this country.
You have got to be kidding. Pure vandalism, disruption of critical life saving communications, disruption of barely profitable businesses during a recession; an act of democracy? Your brand of democracy we don't need.
Unions don't own the country either but they sure try to.
That is some funny stuff. Reap what you sow. Make 500 million a year while paying 10 bucks a hour your bound to piss some people off.
For those of you who do not work in the industry, I worked repairing these type of troubles through my 38 years of service. What was done may have another motive. In the 1990's we saw a rash of this same thing, ironically ATM'S were stolen in the near by area. It was never made clear who did this but that was just one case. I repaired many cables hit by contractors some marked and some not. If this was on purpose, most likely there maybe another motive possible. I do not think an employee would do this for the penalty would be very severe.
Can't they secure these things? Can man holes be secured? Might help if they could. Why should anybody that doesn't belong down there be able to just pick up a man hole cover up and go down there to do whatever?
The covers on these vaults, and they are concrete vaults, not sewers, are made of very heavy iron. Depending on the size and type of vault it could be nearly impossible for one man to lift them off with out proper equipment. I believe there had to be more than one involved. How could you secure them? If this was the work of an irate union worker he would have the means to get in anyway.
$250.000 ? somebody will sing, too bad i don't know anybody in telecommunications in nocal
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