Central Hawke's Bay internet and phone fix coming, 46 hours after outage

The hole dug by roading contractors that cut internet and phone lines in Central Hawke's Bay. Photo / Rachel Wise

Central Hawke's Bay's internet and phone lines were restored on Friday afternoon, ending a 46-hour outage that tested the patience of businesses, homeowners, and even the region's mayor.

About 800 homes or businesses in Waipawa and Waipukurau have been without internet or landlines sinces 4.30pm on Wednesday after a mistake by roading contractors on State Highway 2, 1.3km from Waipukurau.

Chorus spokesman Nathan Beaumont said it was "very frustrating" that it had happened through "no fault of our own".

"The issue caused by roading contractors was compounded by the fact that the holes they were digging when they hit our network then filled up with water, so before we could start repairs we had to source a truck with a pump to clear the water."

A Chorus workers at the site on Friday told Hawke's Bay Today the lines would likely be fixed by 2.30pm.

He said it wouldn't normally take so long to fix an outage but they were not permitted to work on a state highway at night.

Central Hawke's Bay District Council was encouraging people to use the CHB District Library's free Wi-Fi, and a Waipukurau Library spokesperson on Friday said the library had been busy with "worried and frustrated" internet users.

CHB mayor Alex Walker said she had spoken directly to Chorus management who explained it took all Thursday to find the cut and excavate the hole to fix the fibre but unfortunately it got too dark for them to continue safely on the roadside, so the repair work was resumed on Friday morning.