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Photo: RNZ\/Mark Papalii\n<\/p>\n
It has been revealed rats rather than bad weather were responsible for a mobile phone and internet outage in Golden Bay on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The severed fibreoptic cable at Uruwhenua Bridge on State Highway 60 knocked out connection to about 1100 households and sparked concern with residents unable to access 111 emergency services.<\/p>\n
The Telecommunications Forum confirmed rats chewed through the wire.<\/p>\n
Chief executive Paul Brislen said it’s not uncommon to have rat infestations around fibre lines.<\/p>\n
He wanted the government to look at prioritising upgrades to the 111 emergency phone line.<\/p>\n
Chorus said the fault had impacted 350 copper connections and 800 fibre connections.<\/p>\n
It brought in technicians from other areas to help find the fault as quickly as possible in difficult weather conditions.<\/p>\n
“Our field teams have quickly mobilised to the fault site and are working to identify the cause of the outage,” it said in a statement on Thursday.<\/p>\n
“Priority will be given to faults that affect multiple customers or involve medical or emergency needs.<\/p>\n
“Additionally, because Chorus’ fibre network supports many of New Zealand’s mobile towers, restoring mobile coverage is also a focus.”<\/p>\n
Chorus apologised to affected customers for the inconvenience caused by the outage.<\/p>\n