Lower Valley phone outage concerns man, provider working to resolve issue

What would you do if the main way you communicated with your parent was suddenly cut off?

People who live in a Lower Valley neighborhood near South Carolina Drive and Alameda Avenue have no clue why their phones lines are disconnected, or when they’ll be back in working order.

Things have been a little quieter in houses in the neighborhood since the beginning of the month.

“My mom’s 82 years old. We check on here periodically throughout the day and there’s just no way for us to communicate with her,” Alex Garcia said.

Several people who live in the close-knit community said their phone lines have been down for nearly two weeks. Many of them don’t have cell phones, computers or other means of communication, so they rely on family and friends.

ABC-7 tried calling one of the land lines in the neighborhood. If you’re the one dialing, you can actually hear the phone ringing. However, people on the receiving end don’t hear a thing.

Residents said they’re not getting any answers from their phone provider, AT&T, including why the lines are down in the first place, when they’ll be back up or if they will be issued a service credit.

“I understand there’s a back log of work for AT&T but what’s happening is really crucial for us to communicate with the elderly,” Garcia said.

A spokesman for AT&T e-mailed a statement that read, “Due to a cable issue, some customers in the El Paso area may be experiencing issues with their wire line services. AT&T technicians are on-site and working diligently to solve the issue. We apologize for the inconvenience.”

“It’s our lifeline for our loved ones,” Garcia said. Until the service can be restored, he is left checking on his mother as often as he can.