On the last Friday of May, a fiber break caused by firearm projectiles disrupted the internet service for many empower customers in the Black Rock area. The bullet-holes damaged the glass fiber in the cable and prevented the laser light from transmitting data. These bullet-holes were not visible from the ground, making them harder to locate the damage & begin repairs. The fiber techs had to isolate the affected section before they could start repairing it.
Shooting around power lines and poles is not only dangerous for hunters and sportsmen, but also for the critical network equipment that provides internet, phone, and television services. Craighead Electric Cooperative has been educating the public about this issue since the beginning.
To prevent long outages due to single points of failure redundant paths are used for both powerlines and internet lines. This means that if one line is damaged, there will be alternative routes for the service to continue. We have planned three new fiber lines in the Black Rock area, two of which will cross the Black River, to improve the reliability of our service.
We thank our members for their patience and understanding during outages. We are always striving to make our service better and more dependable.
