Time Warner working to restore services

Special to The Leader
The Orange Leader

September 15, 2008 02:04 pm

— Time Warner Cable is hard at work to ensure that video, phone and broadband services will resume as quickly as possible after power is restored. Initial assessments are under way but it appears the company suffered minimal damage to its central head-end, although the fiber and cable distribution facilities are badly damaged.

Customers’ bills will automatically be adjusted to credit days on which service is not available, beginning on September 12 and continuing until service is restored, to the best of the company’s knowledge of the situation in each neighborhood.

“We will systematically bring the cable system back up – neighborhood by neighborhood, street by street – so you don’t need to call to report a neighborhood outage,” said Steve Miller, Director of Construction, who is leading TWC’s restoration efforts in Southeast Texas. “We’ll be in contact with customers when we have service to the outside of their homes. Only after this would we need you to call us to report any remaining service problems that may be a result of problems inside your home.”

Because most employees have complied with the mandatory evacuation of Southeast Texas, Time Warner’s local retail centers remain closed. Calls to Time Warner’s customer-care line are answered by Time Warner Cable employees in other parts of Texas.

“We had a good plan in place and were ready to swoop in to restore service after the storm,” Miller said. “We have personnel staged to begin assessments and repairs immediately.”

Time Warner expects in most cases to be able to offer service as soon as power is restored. The company will focus first on telephone service and then high-speed Internet and video services. To allow crews to focus on repair tasks, no new installation appointments or upgrades requiring a service call are being scheduled at this time.

“We recognize that communication services are particularly vital during times of natural disaster and want to assure customers that we are doing everything possible to bring you the very best service possible, as soon as possible,” Miller said.