Internet service outage in Jurong West resolved after more than 24 hours

SINGAPORE — Internet and fixed voice services in the Jurong West area, which went down on Tuesday (April 12) afternoon due to a cut fibre optic cable, were fully restored by 9.30pm on Wednesday.

The service outage, which affected more than 3,500 customers of the three telcos and MyRepublic, occurred after a fibre optic cable was damaged by a a third-party contractor carrying out sheet piling works at a worksite along Boon Lay Avenue.

At about 3pm on Wednesday, in an update on its Facebook page, StarHub quoted NetLink Trust, the fibre network operator, as saying that "all affected fibre services had been restored".

Close to 7pm, both Singtel and M1 confirmed service recovery for their affected services on their respective Facebook pages. Singtel said 98 per cent of affected lines had been restored, while M1 noted that "most of the customers affected by (Tuesday's) NetLink Trust fibre cut are now able to receive service".

In a media statement, the Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA) said that it "is concerned with the service disruption, and has started its investigation to determine the cause of the incident".

"IMDA will take action against the relevant parties, including the earthwork contractor if it is found to have breached any of IMDA's regulatory requirements when carrying out the excavating works," said an IMDA spokesperson.

Internet and fixed voice services were initially expected to be restored by 4am on Wednesday. However, residents of Jurong West awoke to news that the restoration process had been delayed, after two more damaged cables were discovered in the morning. NetLink Trust also said in an update that progress has been hampered by poor site conditions and heavy rain".

Meanwhile, several residents of Jurong West who had experienced the service disruption expressed disappointment and frustration at the service outage.

Mr Steve Segar Selva, 31, who lives at Jurong West Street 41, said his Internet service at home was completely down by around 4pm on Tuesday.

The logistics company owner told TODAY that the outage had affected his work, as he needed to use the Internet to connect to the virtual private network, something that could not be done on his mobile phone. Mr Segar said he had contacted StarHub, his Internet service provider, but the problem was initially diagnosed as a problematic modem and router. There was no word then from the telcos about the service outage, he added.

Another Jurong West resident, a 42-year-old housewife who only wanted to be known as Ms Choo, said the service disruption lasted till around noon on Wednesday. The M1 subscriber, who had to rely on her mobile data, said she is now hoping for a waiver of data charges during the service outage.

Her hope for a waiver was echoed by many subscribers who posted similar comments on the three telcos' Facebook pages.

Writing on Singtel's Facebook page, user Kent Lim said: "Please work with other service provider(s) to … waive off (at least) one day of mobile data used. (I) had to (turn) on my hotspot to get my work done and it's draining my data real fast!"

There has been no word so far on fee waivers from the three telcos.