Comcast expects to restore service

Comcast Cable customers should expect to have services restored by the end of today, a company representative said Saturday.

The number of customers without cable, telephone and Internet service has declined every day since snow and ice fell Christmas night, mainly because of out-of-state workers and contractors, said Mary Beth Halprin, a vice president of public relations and community affairs for the company’s central division.

The company said it does not provide service-loss figures because the number changes. The company said Wednesday that “less than 1 percent” of its customers in the Little Rock area were without service, according to an e-mail sent to Little Rock officials.

Comcast has about 63,000 customers in central Arkansas, Halprin said Saturday by phone.

Technicians and contractors continued to work “around the clock” Saturday in areas without services and to check the network for any unknown damage, Halprin said. The largest areas have mostly been repaired, so crews focused on sections of the “greater Little Rock area,” including North Little Rock and Jacksonville, she said.

The cable-service provider, which has operated in Little Rock under an exclusive franchise agreement since 1995, has played second fiddle to the energy companies after the Christmas night storms knockedout power to tens of thousands of customers, Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola said.

Comcast used generators when the power was out, but as the commercial power lines continued tohave problems, so did Comcast.

Comcast runs a lot of their lines on Entergy utility poles, so the cable provider had to wait for Entergy crews to finish their repair work, Stodola said.

The high winds, snow and ice caused “more extensive damage” to poles and lines that take a longer time to repair, Halprin said.

“The bulk of the work is really repairing the network,” she said.

Once power is restored to an area, Halprin said rebooting the cable equipment could solve some customers’ problems. Customers who continue to have service issues after restarting their equipment should call Comcast, she said.

Those who have not had cable services despite power restoration may be awarded credits, she said.

Once the company completes its storm-damage repairs, technicians will again tackle regular customer inquiries, including equipment repairs and installations, Halprin said.

Comcast is the nation’s largest provider of cable TV and Internet service, and is one of the largest providers of telephone service. It owns several cable channels and is the majority owner of NBCUniversal.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 15 on 01/06/2013

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