LIBERTY TOWNSHIP, Ohio — A Liberty Township family said Altafiber cut their cable line, leaving them without internet service for a week.
James Robinson said about 10 Altafiber employees were installing fiber optics cables in his front yard last Monday. There are flags lining Robinson’s front yard, marking where will need to be torn up in order to install a new underground line.
Along with tearing up his yard and leaving equipment there for days, Robinson said they cut his internet line in the process.
“The big issue right now is that we don’t have internet and my wife’s working from home,” Robinson said.
Robinson said he reached out to Altafiber and was told they can’t help him.
“They said, 'Hey, look, we don’t provide your internet, so we can’t fix the problem,'” he said.
Robinson wants Altafiber to take responsibility for the damage they caused. Instead, he said he hasn’t been able to get anyone to help fix the problem.
“It is frustrating,” Robinson said. “You guys caused this, but you feel like you don’t have to deal with fixing the problem.”
Robinson said he never asked to have fiber optics cables installed. He was told it was approved by the city. Robinson is not the only one to report having these issues.
“I’ve heard of other people having the same problem,” Robinson said. “My neighbor right here, his sister said they came through their neighborhood and did the same thing … They cut lines and knocked their system out. There needs to be some accountability.”
Last August, WCPO reported on issues neighbors in West Chester were facing due to Altafiber’s installation of fiber optic cables. Some of the issues those neighbors were facing last August included water main breaks, power outages, and yards torn up as a result of Altafiber installing their fiber optics cables. Following that story, people from Liberty township, Deerfield Township, Hebron, and Florence all reached out, saying they had a similar experience with Altafiber.
Robinson believes it is time for Altafiber to be held accountable.
“Altafiber can't just say what they said to me,” he said.
Robinson said Altafiber told him they didn’t do it intentionally.
“I said, ‘Yeah, people don't do things intentionally, but they gotta be held accountable for it,’” he said. “You know if I'm supposed to be doing something in your house, and I break a window, I didn't do it intentionally, but I'm responsible.”
As of Monday evening, the Robinsons are still without internet. They’ll be without internet through at least Friday before Spectrum can come out to do any repairs.
WCPO reached out to Altafiber to get their side of the story.
They provided us with this statement:
“Altafiber is currently in the process of completing our fiber build in Greater Cincinnati to support gigabit Internet, which includes burying fiber in many neighborhoods. We are aware of this issue and have been actively engaged in the process to resolve it with the necessary parties. This process includes resolving associated costs for repair. We apologize for any disruption to this resident. The public may learn more about the fiber building process and contact us with questions at www.altafiber.com/construction [altafiber.com].”
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