Why did AT&T cell services fail in Kansas?
TOPEKA (KSNT) - Answers are being released regarding a loss of service experienced by AT&T customers across Kansas Wednesday.
KSNT 27 News spoke with AT&T spokesman Tracy Donalson on Thursday, April 18 to learn what happened to the company's phone services. He said an equipment failure and a fiber optic line that was cut are to blame.
"Service has been restored for our wireless customers in Kansas who were affected by an equipment failure and a fiber optic line that was severed. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate the patience of our customers."
AT&T spokesman Tracy Donalson
Many Kansas customers were upset during the service outage as they found their cell service was disconnected. 27 News interviewed some frustrated AT&T customers at a local store in Topeka on the day of the outage.
Some law enforcement organizations, such as the Shawnee County Sheriff's Office, posted warnings on social media during the outage. This included alerts regarding law enforcement's ability to answer emergency calls.
Shawnee County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Abigail Christian told 27 News "an unrelated series of service associated events" happened in the Sunflower State Wednesday afternoon. These were spaced close together in terms of time.
Christian says a fiber cut happened in Franklin County that had a far-reaching outcome. It also impacted the phones used by the sheriff's office to send and receive standard calls for business and administrative purposes. Following this, a service provider experienced an equipment failure at one of their primary locations, producing wide-spread service problems on several cell towers in Kansas.
AT&T also recently experienced another nationwide loss of service in February 2024. At its peak, there were more than 58,000 outages reported during this situation.
For more Kansas news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here.
Follow Matthew Self on X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/MatthewLeoSelf