Internet, TV outage in Phoenix during Suns' game caused by fire on utility pole, Cox says

A technology snafu, possibly caused by a utility fire, resulted in service outages for many Phoenix-area residents Sunday and early Monday, disrupting internet coverage for some and television viewing of the Phoenix Suns basketball playoff game for others.

Andrea Katsenes, a spokeswoman for Cox Communications in Phoenix, said she didn’t have information regarding the geographic extent of the outage or the number of affected customers but said service was restored by late Monday morning.

"Due to a fire on a (Salt River Project) pole yesterday, Sunday, our services were impacted and our teams could not get to (the) repair right away until safety allowed," she said in an email to the Republic.

Before service was restored, Cox Customer Care posted on Twitter that it was “aware of a major outage in Phoenix and the surrounding area.”

SRP and Cox technicians worked side by side through the night until service was restored, Katsenes said.

SRP spokeswoman Patty Garcia-Likens said SRP had repaired a power pole at Baseline Road and Central Avenue that was damaged by a fire Saturday.

"Once our repairs were completed, the Cox crews were able to access the pole," Garcia-Likens said.

Outage lasted nearly 24 hours

Evelyn Brumfield said she was without Cox internet service for nearly a full day, from about 11 a.m. Sunday to 9 a.m. Monday. Brumfield, who lives in South Phoenix near Baseline Road and 16th Street, said she doesn’t use Cox for television.

The outage started during one of the hottest days of the year when many Valley residents stayed inside, and it disrupted the televised broadcast of the NBA playoff game between the Phoenix Suns and Denver Nuggets. 

Suns fan Matthew Bell said he was frustrated trying to watch the Suns' playoff victory over the Nuggets through his Cox TV connection owing to buffering problems. “The sound would go out, and then the screen would freeze,” he said.

Bell, who lives in east Mesa, wound up watching the game through another provider using a Fire TV Stick. Through it all, Bell said he didn’t have any problems with his Cox internet connections.

In one of several Twitter posts to customers, Cox Customer Care indicated the outage was "widespread and affected multiple providers after a fiber line was damaged when a utility pole caught fire.” The company said many customers continued to be impacted even after it "rerouted the network."

Reach the reporter at russ.wiles@arizonarepublic.com.

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