According to county spokesperson Vivian Laxton, the county shares its phone system with the city of Frederick. It is not yet known when service will be restored to city and county agencies.
Laxton said the county’s Information Technology department first detected a problem with the phone system at approximately 2 a.m. on Thursday.
The department was able to determine within about an hour that the issue was related to a fiber outage. The county then put in a support ticket with Verizon, its phone service provider.
In a phone interview on Friday, Verizon spokesperson Ilya Hemlin said the company verified that none of its own cables had been damaged. However, Hemlin said, a third-party cable was cut in the Baltimore area.
Hemlin said it is possible that damage to the third-party cable impacted IT services that the county uses on top of its landline system, which could have resulted in the phone lines going out.
Because the damaged cable belongs to a third-party company, Verizon was not able to estimate when service to the county’s phones might be restored.
In a phone interview on Friday, Laxton said that the county has been receiving status updates from Verizon. The company dispatched technicians around 2 p.m. on Friday to re-test the county’s phone lines, she said.
According to Laxton, the county was told that crews were working to fix the damaged cable near Baltimore, but that repairs were complicated by downed trees in the area.
The county plans to alert the public once service to its phone lines has been restored, Laxton said.
REACHING GOVERNMENT AGENCIES
The fiber outage is not impacting calls or texts to 911, and people can still call in to public meetings using the toll-free number 855-925-2801.
Those who have been called up for jury duty can still call the number on their summons to check in.
People who need to reach someone at a county office should send an email or call a cellphone number, if available.
People can also reach county divisions by texting one of the numbers below:
- Aging and Independence: 301-900-5535
- Agriculture: 301-900-2757
- Animal Control: 301-900-5533
- Constituent Services: 301-900-8501
- Economic Development: 301-900-3537
- Energy and Environment: 301-900-5564
- Family Services: 301-900-7007
- Health Department: 301-900-5811
- Housing: 301-900-5575
- Human Resources: 301-900-2820
- Parks and Recreation: 301-900-3121
- Planning and Permitting: 301-900-4433
- Public Works: 301-900-3113
- Solid Waste and Recycling: 301-900-7010
- Transit Services: 301-900-5242
- Water and Sewer Utilities: 301-900-8182
To report specific problems that require the attention of county employees, people can use the FCG FixIt app or visit FrederickCountyMD.gov/FCGFixit.
Frederick city employees can be contacted through email or by cellphone. City residents can also report issues that require immediate attention by calling 240-409-0933 or by visiting www.cityoffrederickmd.gov/518/Report-a-Problem.
©2024 The Frederick News-Post, Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
