Sore more info on this for everyone, from BT, seems like the media are playing this down a fair bit – I wonder why…
{paste}
Update issued at 21:00 hours, April 5th 2009 A serious incident occurred on the afternoon of Saturday, 4th April, which has had a major impact on BT’s network in the Ilford area of East London.
A large thrust borer being used by a third party construction contractor on work not related to BT’s business penetrated one of our deep level tunnels in that area. The thrust borer has completely penetrated the tunnel and has caused material damage to both the copper and fibre cables in the tunnel.
BT engineers are working around the clock to restore service as soon as possible.
More than 70,000 PSTN customers were initially affected, though almost half of these have now been restored. Several thousand broadband lines, a large number of private circuits and Featurenet services have been impacted. Emergency and Police services were also affected but these services have been restored.
The tunnel is so badly damaged that it is not possible to work there pending structural support work and it is likely to be three days or more before that work can be completed and damage repair work undertaken.
In the meantime we are pursuing many alternative means of restoring service, including re-routing, establishing radio links and the diversion of circuits to surface level ducts. However, the scale of the damage means that only a proportion of the affected services can be restored this way. As a result, mobile STM-1 equipment is being moved to site to allow us to use dark fibre as a means of restoring service.
Emergency transmission equipment has been arriving on site and this is expected to continue through this evening. We expect this equipment will be set up and available to support service by midnight.
We should see the first cables installed by around 02.00 hours on April 6th. At that stage, we should be in a position to start connecting the transmission equipment and cabling. Further services restoration, managed by the BT war room, should begin soon after that.
Work will continue until all services are up and running, but it is unlikely that significant numbers of circuits will be working before 06:00hrs. There is still a lot of work to be done to fully recover the situation but work will continue throughout tomorrow.
MBORC (measures beyond our reasonable control) has been applied for.
More briefings will be provided as the incident progresses.
Q and A
Q. What has happened?
A. A third part contactor has caused serious damage to major telecommunications cables in one of BT’s deep level tunnels, which has resulted in a loss of service to customers in parts of East London.
Q. Do BT’s engineers currently have access to the tunnel to start fixing the damage?
A. Not at the moment. Our engineers cannot access the tunnel until the site has been declared safe for them to enter. Health and safety and structural engineers have assessed the damage and recommend structural support in the tower before work is undertaken. This structural work is expected to take a number of days
BT engineers are currently using alternative methods to restore service and have already successfully restored service to thousands of impacted customers.
Q. How many customers are affected?
A. This is still being assessed, but initial estimates are that tens of thousands customers are affected. Thousands have had their service restored and work is continuing around the clock to restore service to all customers. We will provide further detail as the situation develops.
Q. What services have been impacted?
A. A range of services are affected, including telephony, broadband, ISDN and private circuits. A number of mobile ‘cell sites’ are also affected.
Q. When do you expect all repairs will be complete?
A. This is still being assessed. Our engineers are working around the clock to restore services to customers as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the damage, which happened 32 meters below street level, it is not possible at this stage to provide an exact timeframe as to when services will to be restored but customers should be assured that everything that can be done is being done. We will provide further details as the situation develops.
Q. What should customers do if they have no telephone services and they are infirm or vulnerable?
A. Affected customers needing to make calls to the emergency services are advised to do so by using their mobile phone, or alternatively by using a friend or neighbour’s working phone.
Q. Can you provide a guarantee to any affected major business in the area that their services will be restored by Monday morning?
A. We recognise the critical importance of communications services to major businesses and are therefore working around the clock to restore service as quickly as possible. If necessary, we will prioritise the restoration of services to businesses and public sector organizations first.
Q. Has anyone been hurt?
A. There are currently no reports of any injuries at the site. The safety of the site is currently being assessed by a team of safety consultants and structural engineers. The London Fire Brigade is also on standby if required.
Q. Does the any structural damage to the tunnel pose any significant risk to people living in the surrounding area?
A. This is currently being assessed
Q. How many other communications providers are affected?
A. A number of other communications providers are affected. They are being kept informed of progress by BT
Polymath. Serial entrepreneur turned VC, now sitting on both sides of the table, talking tech, finance, and motorbikes.