Ulster Unionist Assembly member for Fermanagh & South Tyrone, Tom Elliott MLA is seeking answers from BT as to how some phone customers in Fermanagh and parts of Tyrone were left with no phone connections for over 3 hours on Monday 1 October.
Tom said: I discovered this problem early on Monday morning and many householders and businesses were left stranded. I wish to establish how this major fault occurred in the exchange and what steps can be taken to avoid a similar situation happening in the future. I am pleased that BT Engineers worked quickly to repair the fault but nevertheless many households and businesses suffered unnecessary disruption. This is a very rural part of Northern Ireland and heavily dependent on landlines, as a means of communication and poor reception in many areas for mobile phone use.
Even more worrying was that some of those affected lines would have been unable to access 999 emergency during this time. I am just grateful that no major emergencies occurred during this period.