Spectrum internet outage hits Woodstock, Onteora

Some service restored to area by late afternoon

Online classes couldn’t be conducted, and some businesses in the affected area had difficulty operating.

WOODSTOCK, N.Y. » A construction accident that cut a cable near the Thruway roundabout in the town of Ulster on Tuesday, Sept. 22, left many Onteora school district students without online classes and some businesses unable to conduct commercial activities.

Customers say they lost service at about 8 a.m. Tuesday. Some saw internet service restored by late afternoon.

Spectrum spokeswoman Lara Pritchard issued a prepared statement at 4:30 p.m., but did not have information on the number of customers affected by the outage.

“We had a fiber break in our network, caused by a non-affiliated third party doing construction in the area,” she said in the statement. “Our crews continue to do their work on scene, involving almost 400 fiber splices, in order to be repaired. We expect services to resume early this evening.”

Onteora Board of Education President Laurie Osmond said she was troubled by the lack of information from Spectrum because so many students rely on internet service while classes are conducted remotely during the coronavirus pandemic.

“We would hope that Spectrum, in recognizing that they are a key component in our students’ education, would become a more active partner,” she said.

Osmond noted that there was no service outage at Woodstock Elementary School, where classes are also administered remotely, but the students who would have been receiving instruction were essentially missing a day of school.

Osmond said Spectrum needs to be regulated in the same manner as gas and electric companies.

“Spectrum is very frustrating to deal with,” she said. “I’ve had them swear to me that their internet (service) never goes out when there’s a power outage. Well, when we lose power in (the Woodstock hamlet of) Willow, we always lose internet.”

Onteora officials said the number of students affected by the outage was unclear because some areas did not lose service, but they said the outage was widespread and “all over the district.”

Businesses on Mill Hill Road and Tinker Street in Woodstock were also affected. Even so, some businesses, like gift shop Jean Turmo at 11 Tinker St., were grateful to have other ways to conduct business.

“I noticed it this morning at my home,” shop owner Rebecca Turmo said of the cable outage. “I went to my store at 10 (a.m.) and had internet because I have Verizon, but most of the town did not. Even for my credit card, I go through the phone line because I guess I’m just old school.”