Tauranga Habour Bridge internet cable damaged by fire - thousands without internet

An internet cable on the Tauranga Harbour Bridge has been severely damaged by fire leaving thousands without internet. Photo / NZME

An internet cable beneath the Tauranga Harbour Bridge has been severely damaged by fire leaving thousands without internet across the Bay of Plenty.

Chorus confirmed the damage to the 96-fibre cable has resulted in a phone and broadband outage for approximately 3000 home and business customers across several broadband providers.

Chorus technicians are at the location of the cable damage and ready to start repair work as soon as it is safe to do so. There is no current restoration time for services affected by this incident.

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Chorus technicians can be seen working under the bridge following the fire that severly damaged the fibre cable. Photo / George Novak

Chorus apologied to those without an internet or phone connection and said it was working as quickly as possible to get services back up and running.

A spokesman said it was still unclear what caused the fire but technicians were working to find the answer.

He said the damage was under the SH2 bridge, meaning there would be no need for road closures.

"For our technicians, it is waiting until they are given the all clear by the emergency services.

"We're currently looking to see if we could use an existing duct to run a temporary fibre cable to isolate the damage and restore services."

A Spark spokesman said a Chrous cable had been cut between Mount Maunganui and Ōtūmoetai which was affecting many customers in the Te Puke area.

Spark customers in Te Ranga, Pukehina, Maketū, Paengaroa and Matatā were without internet.

According to its website, the outage began at 10.28am.

"Our teams are working with Chorus to get the fibre cut fixed and services back up and running again as soon as possible.

"We apologies for the disruption caused and thank our customers for their patience while we resolve this."

Two Degrees said on its website it was aware that some customers in the Western Bay Of Plenty and Whakatāne districts may be experiencing issues with broadband services.

"Technicians are working to restore the service as quickly as possible. We are really sorry for any inconvenience."

Vodafone said on its website the loss of internet to Matatā, Whakatāne, and areas in the Western Bay Of Plenty, Tauranga and Mount Maunganui was under investigation.