Repairs completed to NE Bend fiber line downed by truck after day-long internet outage hits 22,000

(Update: Adding video, comments from TDS telecommunications, Bend business)

'Keep taking cash, man -- that's all we can do, unfortunately'

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Up to 22,000 people from Bend to Sunriver and La Pine and in La Center, Washington lost internet service late Wednesday afternoon, and many didn't get it back until repairs were completed more than 24 hours later.

Kit Beyer, director of external affairs and communications for TDS Telecommunications, the parent company of BendBroadband, said a commercial dump truck accidentally ripped down a fiber cable on Boyd Acres Road around 3 p.m. Wednesday

Thousands of homes over a wide area were left without internet access, along with some businesses.

Chris Morse, an employee at US Market off 27th Street in Bend, said the store lost internet service around 3:30 Wednesday, and as a result was unable to use its credit card system, requiring cash-only transactions

"It's frustrating, but I understand it,” Morse said.  “A lot of people pay with debit nowadays. When that gets messed up it's just a giant ordeal for everybody."

He said going cash only did push away some customers.

"Yeah, I've had a couple people walk with frustration and get mad. But honestly, there's nothing we can do about it,” Morse said. “I wish we could, but unfortunately, we can't."

Late Wednesday night, BendBroadband put out a tweet saying crews were "splicing the damaged fiber cable" and expected services to be restored by early to mid- Thursday morning.

At 12:23pm on Thursday, Beyer sent an email stating:

"BendBroadband became aware of the outage at approximately 3 p.m. yesterday. It is believed a commercial dump truck with an extended bucket accidentally ripped down a 72-count and a 144-count aerial fiber cable. Unfortunately, this impacted nearly 22,000 customers in La Pine, Sunriver, and Bend, Oregon and LaCenter, Washington. 

"BendBroadband crews worked through the night on repairing the extensive damage and have been responding to hundreds of customer inquiries. BendBroadband has been actively providing updates on our restoration work on our social media channels as soon as we get updated information from the field. 

"BendBroadband understands how important our services are to our customers and appreciates their patience. At this time, service is close to being fully restored. Several communities are already restored and back in service. Final restoration details will be forthcoming shortly."

Morse said an internet outage is something he's dealt with before, but the longer it's out, the bigger the impact.

"Oh yeah, I started work here over 2 1/2 years ago. We had internet failures every once in a while,” Morse said. "Fortunately, the one we had back then only lasted about a half a day. This one's been going on for a day now, so it gets a little frustrating."

He said until it was back up, they would have to adjust and hope people remain understanding.

"Keep taking cash, man -- that's all we can do, unfortunately,” Morse said.

BendBroadand announced the outage was resolved.