Recent releases
Feb. 12, 2009
TDS Telecom crews making progress, repairs continue.
Phones on for many, crews adding poles and lines to restore services
It’s been dangerous work, but crews are making progress, repairing the destruction caused by ice storms in late Jan. Early estimates tally hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to the communications infrastructure owned by TDS Telecom in Ky.
TDS offers phone, Internet and satellite TV service to more than 12,000 customers in Salem, Lewisport and Hyden, Ky. No firm date of completion has been announced for Salem, but crews remain on site, working as quickly as possible to fully restore service. Restoration is 99% completed in Lewisport and Hyden, as these areas had less damage.
“Crews have been clearing brush, replacing lines and equipment, while keeping gas powered generators running day and night,” says Jim Elless, regional field services manager for TDS. “It’s been a great team effort by everyone in our company and in the community.”
Updates for Salem - the hardest hit community in the TDS serving area:
• TDS central office facility is fully operational and on commercial power. All phone and data services are working for customers with intact lines.
• A few remote sites remain without commercial power. TDS continues to use generators to power the phone lines and has brought in replacement generators, as necessary, due to extreme use.
• Twenty-eight poles carrying communication lines were damaged; 14 have been replaced, with 14 more en-route from other states.
• 36,750 feet of phone lines will be replaced.
• TDS has repaired or replaced nearly 400 “direct home drops” – that’s the line that connects individual homes to the main poles outside the home.
• Crews have been going door to door to assess damage and make repairs. Any TDS customers who are still experiencing a phone or Internet outage should report it immediately by calling 1-888- CALL TDS (225-5837) – and please bear with us as hold times may be long.
• An emergency communications trailer brought in to Salem to assist local officials after the storm hit will be returned today. It has also been open for free phone and Internet use by residents during the past two weeks.
“Now that more people are moving back into town, it’s important for people to let us know if they are out of service," added Elless.
About TDS Telecommunications Corp.:
TDS Telecommunications Corp. markets communications services to business and residential customers in 30 states through its brands TDS Telecom® and TDS Metrocom®. With nearly 1.2 million access line equivalents in service, TDS Telecommunications Corp. connects customers to phone, broadband, and digital television service in hundreds of rural, suburban, and small metropolitan communities. TDS Telecommunications Corp. employs approximately 2,700 people and is headquartered in Madison, Wis. Visit www.tdstelecom.com and www.tdsbusiness.com for more information.
TDS Telecommunications Corp. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Telephone and Data Systems™ (NYSE: TDS, TDS.S) headquartered in Chicago. A Fortune 500® company, Telephone and Data Systems’ strategic business units, TDS Telecommunications Corp. and United States Cellular (NYSE: USM) operate primarily by providing wireless, local telephone and broadband services. As of June 2008, the TDS™ family of companies employs approximately 11,800 people and serves approximately 7.4 million customers in 36 states. Visit www.teldta.com for more information.
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