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Apr. 19, 2009

Verizon Wireless doesn’t know who severed the fiber cable that led to last week’s outage in Silicon Valley, but it is suing people anyway.

However, whether the cut was accidental or voluntary is still unclear at this time.

Both Verizon Wireless and Verizon California filed the lawsuit after someone apparently destroyed fiber cables that provide services for their respective networks.

Like many other wireless service providers, Verizon uses fiber optic cables owned by other mobile carriers. In this case, the cables are owned by AT&T.

A complaint filed April 15 in California Superior Court names “John Doe and Does 2 to 100” as the defendants...

Verizon Wireless says it will duly amend its complaint when the real names of those responsible for the outage are clearly identified.

Overall, about 102,400 Verizon Wireless customers were without mobile service for more than twenty hours on April 7 as a result of the cable being severed.

Verizon customers could not make or receive calls or transmit any data, and for much of the time, they could not make 911 emergency calls either.

The lawsuit seeks general damages in an amount to be determined at a future date, as well as punitive damages and various lawyer’s fees.

A Verizon Wireless spokesperson said the company will continue to support law enforcement in any way possible to help identify, arrest and prosecute the ones responsible for cutting the fiber cables.

It is expected that AT&T and maybe at least two more carriers will follow in Verizon's footsteps and initiate lawsuits on their own, once the real people responsible for the outage are identified by the police.

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    This article was featured on Business 5.0 and on Tech Blog.

Source: Verizon Wireless.