AT U-verse outage affecting some B.R. customers

An unknown number of AT&T U-verse subscribers in Baton Rouge and other southeast Louisiana areas are without phone, TV and Internet service, which went out sometime early Tuesday in the area, says AT&T Louisiana spokeswoman Sue Sperry. “It’s a server issue affecting a number of states,” says Sperry, adding that less than 1% of the company’s 7.4 million total U-verse subscribers are without service in areas of the southern United States. “It’s a complex issue, and unfortunately right now we don’t know when the service will be restored to everyone,” she says. The outage is not affecting all U-verse customers in the area, Sperry notes, and service will be gradually restored to those affected. AT&T provides U-verse service in areas of southeast Louisiana including Houma/Thibodeaux and New Orleans in addition to Baton Rouge. Some customers in Georgia and Florida tell local media outlets they’ve been without service for as many as three days. “Even with less than 1% of our customers affected, we feel that is far too many because we totally pride ourselves on U-verse and the fact that it is such a consistent and reliable network,” Sperry says. Once customers affected by the outage have service restored, she says, they can contact AT&T to have their bills credited for the time they were without service. “This is a very rare occurrence,” Sperry says. “We know it’s frustrating to have to keep checking to see if the service is back, and we apologize to everyone who’s affected.” —Steve Sanoski