HOUSTON – Last Thursday’s storm left many Houstonians not only without power but also without internet service.
KPRC 2′s Joel Eisenbaum discussed the widespread outages on KPRC 2, highlighting the significant impact on people across the city.
Because Wi-Fi routers require electricity, many internet problems might kick back in as power returns. However, if power is restored but your internet is still down, the provider’s infrastructure may have been damaged.
If you’re affected, you can start by checking outage maps provided by your internet provider.
Comcast customers can visit the outage map by entering their address. Similarly, AT&T customers can use their outage map, searchable by zip code, to check for ongoing issues.
Eisenbaum also suggested you contact your internet service providers to report outages and request credit for the days without service.
Updates from Comcast and AT&T
Foti Kallergis, Senior Director of Communications and Public Relations for Comcast in the Texas region, reported they have restored about 90% of all internet outages, with 265,000 customers restored so far.
“Approximately 35,000 customers are still without internet as of noon, mainly because they don’t have power in their homes,” he shared.
As power comes back on in hard-hit areas, Comcast’s system will be able to alert where they have issues with equipment and downed fiber lines in those areas.
“When we see those alerts, our crews get dispatched to fix the issues. We have about 700 technicians in the field right now taking care of any issues that arise,” Kallergis said. “They are working around the clock.”
To illustrate the response, Kallergis shared a video of a technician addressing post-storm issues. The technician responded to an alert from the system indicating a problem in an area where power had just been restored, identified and repaired damaged equipment, restoring internet service to the neighborhood in minutes.
SEE ALSO: Ask 2: Why are there inaccuracies in the CenterPoint outage map?
Eisenbaum also suggested that affected customers contact their internet service providers to report outages and request credit for the days without service.
SEE ALSO: After the storm outages, should Houston’s power grid go underground?
KPRC 2 received the following statement from AT&T:
Our wireless network in Harris County is operating normally at this time. Some of our customers in affected areas may still be experiencing home phone and internet service interruptions due to storm damage and commercial power outages. We’ve made significant progress with our restoration efforts and technicians continue to work as quickly and safely as possible until all service is restored.
An AT&T spokesperson also shared the following on the internet outages in the Houston area:
- Of the Texas wireline (home phone/internet) customers where we know service was affected, more than 78% have had their service restored.
- Wireline customers can also visit att.com/outages to sign up for one-time service restoration text alerts.