Sparklight identifies cause of disruption

Published 4:30 pm Tuesday, March 21, 2023

BROOKHAVEN — Sparklight services were disrupted in the areas around Grenada, Brookhaven, Natchez and McComb Monday morning. A spokesperson with the company confirmed the service was caused by damage to a line but could not report how many customers lost service.

The Crouton, a restaurant in downtown Brookhaven, announced yesterday it was unable to take card payments during the lunch hour due to their disruption of service from Sparklight. It later closed at 1:30 p.m. and was open Tuesday.

Sparklight announced the issues had been resolved this morning thanks to the work of technicians. 

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Aaron Scherle, a manager of corporate communications, explained the disruption to phone, internet and television service was caused by a line accidentally cut by third party construction work Monday morning. 

“It was caused by a line that was accidentally cut by an auger during some construction. The auger was not one of ours,” he said. “This happens sometimes when people don’t check before they dig, although I can’t confirm that is what happened here. A technical issue prevented the redundant circuit from working when the fiber was damaged. ”

Sparklight’s operation center monitors services closely and technicians are then dispatched quickly when there is an interruption to service like there was yesterday, Scherle said. The company provided updates on the repairs until about 8 p.m. last night. 

“We of course apologize for any inconvenience to our valued customers,” he said. “We have implemented changes to help prevent this from occurring again in the future.”