Chorus technicians under the Tauranga Harbour Bridge repairing a severely fire-damaged 96-fibre internet cable. Photo / George Novak
Chorus technicians under the Tauranga Harbour Bridge repairing a severely fire-damaged 96-fibre internet cable. Photo / George Novak
Just how much a major phone and internet outage across the Bay of Plenty cost the economy is yet to be determined but business and community leaders say it could be significant.
On Friday Chorus' 96-fibre cable was damaged in a fire under the Tauranga Harbour Bridge just before 10.30am.
It resulted in phone and broadband outages to about 3000 home and business customers across several providers.
A Spark spokesman earlier said the damaged cable cut services between Mount Maunganui and Ōtūmoetai, which affected many customers in the Te Puke area.
Spark customers in Te Ranga, Pukehina, Maketū, Paengaroa and Matatā were also without internet while Spark teams worked with Chorus to get the fibre cut fixed and services back up.
2Degrees customers in the Western Bay Of Plenty and Whakatāne, as well as Vodafone customers in Matatā, Whakatāne, and areas in the Western Bay Of Plenty, Tauranga and Mount Maunganui, were also affected.
Mark Boyle, the initiative and managing director of the Te Puke Economic Development Group. Photo / File
Chorus' head of external communications Steve Pettigrew told the Bay of Plenty Time services were restored by 1am on Saturday after technicians worked in the cold and dark to restore services as fast as they could.
"There was a lot of damage to the cable itself so the technicians put a patch fibre across the damage, then cut the cable at the damaged part and put in a new 96-fibre cable.
"It was a huge task as each strain of fibre is a 10th of the width of a human hair and the technicians had to carefully resplice each fibre at night underneath a bridge."
He said while the cause of the fire and cost of the repair was still unclear he estimated repairs were likely to cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Te Puke Economic Development Group's initiative and managing director Mark Boyle said the outage had a significant "widespread" impact on residents and businesses in the area.
Boyle said he was aware some packhouses had to cancel their night shifts on Friday night and the overall cost to the local economy would also be significant.
"I couldn't even start to estimate how much, but it won't be a small number."
Boyle said the outage was a reminder of how vital it was to have a backup fibre security system and also a backup communication system to inform customers.
Te Puke Economic Development Group chairman Paul Hickson, who operates his accountancy business and a kiwifruit operation from home in Pongakawa, agreed.
"We are used to power outages out here from time to time but there was a significant impact on those living and working in the Te Puke area.
"We need to look at having a backup system for these type of unexpected outages and an emergency plan in place so we all know what we should do if this happens again."
Pāpāmoa resident John McKeown, who works as a quantity surveyor for a construction firm, lost his internet service from 11am.
However, McKeown said he thought Chorus had done a "great job" in restoring the service as fast as it did.
"I know a lot about these type of cables and it wouldn't have been easy repairing the damaged cable especially as it was wet and cold night."
It is unclear whether the fire is being treated as suspicious - the area is known to be a spot for homeless people and there have been previous fires under the bridge.
Tauranga Chamber of Commerce chief executive Matt Cowley said some business owners were able to keep operating and others had to close their doors.
Cowley said these things did happen from time to time and it was part of the ongoing challenge of owning and operating a business today.
He said he heard reports a couple of retailers in Pāpāmoa closed their doors, while others kept operating with cash-only sales.
Cowley said Chorus was clearly dealing with a severe problem and with help got the internet back up as fast as it could and should be applauded for doing so.
However, he said the biggest thing was for service providers to ensure they keep customers informed.
A police spokeswoman said she was unable to confirm whether there had been a complaint lodged about the fire.
