The vandalized UTS room on Saturday.
PHILIPSBURG--”Thieves caused a great inconvenience to UTS broadband Internet and mobile customers in various neighbourhoods when they vandalised a transmitter site on Saturday with the intention of stealing copper cabling,” stated the company in a press release on Sunday.
The perpetrators broke into the site location and cut and removed a large portion of transmission cabling, effectively severing broadband and mobile service in the neighbourhoods of Dawn Beach, Pointe Blanche, Madame Estate and Cay Hill/Belair.
Technicians responded to the interruption immediately, working diligently on restoring service to the affected areas. Service was fully restored by noon on Sunday.
“We’d like to commend our technicians for working tirelessly to restore service and for even giving chase to the vandals when it appeared some of them were still on location,” said UTS Marketing and Communication Officer Ivy Lambert.
The Daily Herald understands that while at the site location, technicians spotted one of the culprits still in the building. The technicians contacted police and saw the man running into his vehicle and driving off the scene. They followed the vehicle and gave as many details to police as they could before losing the vehicle, which drove off at high speed.
“We appreciate their dedication to the company and to our valued customers. We also sincerely regret the inconvenience caused by the damage to the equipment and are happy to report full restoration of service,” said Lambert.
