Vandalism in Arizona Shut Down Internet, Cellphone, Telephone Service Across State [telecom]

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Incident raises concerns a domestic or international terrorist could tamper with U.S. infrastructure

by Adam Kredo

Cellphone, Internet, and telephone services across half of Arizona went dark on Wednesday after vandals sliced a sensitive fiber optic cable, according to those familiar with the situation. The incident is raising concerns about the safety of U.S. infrastructure.

The outage shut down critical services across large parts of the state, preventing individuals from using their phones, bank and ATM cards, and the Internet. Critical services, such as police and state government databases, as well as banks and hospitals, also were affected as a result of the vandalism.

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