Broadband customers back online after building site cable blunder

Broadband customers who had been cut off for days after cables were accidentally damaged should be back online, provider Openreach has said.

Problems began after contractors working at Dummer, near Basingstoke, drilled through fibre optic and copper cables last week.

Openreach said engineers worked over the weekend to restore services as quickly as possible.

But it said the copper network for landlines was taking longer to fix.

"Some customers may find that their broadband is back online before their landline, and while this may be frustrating, it's because different technologies are being repaired in different ways," Openreach said.

It added that repair work would continue during this week and that vulnerable customers were being prioritised.

Openreach, which is responsible for maintaining the cables, said they had been damaged by a third party contractor drilling through cables on a building site on 8 June.

Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said the problem initially caused long delays at emergency departments across the the county.

Hospitals in Winchester, Andover and Basingstoke urged patients with non-life threatening conditions to seek alternative care as a result.

More than 4,000 domestic and business customers were also hit.

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