GREENVILLE-Reliable internet supports daily life in Greenville — helping people process payments, connect with customers, and reach essential services. A cable and internet outage last week disrupted that access and left people like Kim Jones disconnected for days.

“For me it was a very slow day but also for everyone. Even when I went out into town and some of these smaller businesses that don’t have other sources of internet, they couldn’t process their payments, and I couldn’t find some of the things I needed,” said Kim jones.

What caused the internet outage?

In a statement, Optimum said “The outage was the result of a deliberate act of vandalism and theft targeting Optimum’s network infrastructure. Our dedicated teams responded swiftly, working around the clock to repair the damage and restore service as quickly as possible.”

The outage comes as more cable users across the country — including many in Greenville — continue to cut the cord. Forbes reports that an estimated 5.7 million people dropped their cable subscriptions during the first three quarters of 2024.

That means, Optimum and other legacy cable companies face steady declines as competition from streaming and internet services grow.

Greenville mayor Errick Simmons issued a statement of his own, saying “I am formally demanding optimum to provide a full and transparent explanation for the most recent internet outage, which disrupted residential, business, educational, and governmental operations across the city of Greenville for more than a day.”

That led to another, joint release between the city and Optimum, announcing a summit meeting between the mayor the optimum’s regional manager May 15th to discuss ways to “improve communication, and expand access to affordable broadband.”

Jones finds it upsetting that vandalism caused the outage and want stronger efforts to improve service. 

“It’s very frustrating because we’re already a small business trying to keep our money here in our hometown and this is a huge problem especially the way it’s happening with vandalism.” It’s killing local folks here that is trying to have a business here that we can’t conduct business because we don’t have sufficient internet or a way to run a business,” said Kim Jones.