Fiber Damage Vexes Verizon After Hurricane Michael [telecom]

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Damage to a crucial part of the carrier's network caused continued service outages

By Sarah Krouse

Hurricane Michael has caused such extensive damage to the fiber that underpins Verizon Communications Inc.'s wireless network that it has stymied the carrier's efforts to restore service to parts of the hardest-hit areas of the Florida Panhandle.

Verizon's network suffered "an unprecedented amount of fiber damage" in those areas during Hurricane Michael, said spokeswoman Karen Schulz. Wireless service problems have persisted for the carrier in parts of Panama City, Panama City Beach and Mexico Beach.