Almost 250 homes without internet in Goodmayes after car accident takes out telecoms box
Almost 250 are without broadband after a car struck a telecoms box in Goodmayes. - Credit: Archant
Almost 250 homes have been without broadband and landline service since Saturday (January 9) after a car crashed into a telecoms box in Goodmayes.
The accident took place around 10pm and caused a major service outage in the surrounding area, which is still ongoing almost a week later.
It has caused problems for the residents working from home and children who need a broadband connection to access their home learning during lockdown.
One resident told the Recorder: "There doesn’t appear to be any urgency in getting it fixed."
Openreach engineers have been on the scene repairing the internal telecoms infrastructure which was damaged.
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However, it won't be able to fix the shell of the cabinet and restore a permanent power source until this weekend when it has permission to close the bus lane.
A spokesperson for Openreach said: "Because of the damage, the cabinet is running on battery power.
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"There may been some small interruptions to service as the batteries are replaced manually, but mains power will be reconnected by our partner company as soon as possible and normal service will resume.
"We understand how frustrating this must be for anyone is affected.
"We encourage anyone experiencing any disruption with their phone or broadband service to report it to their service provider who will then inform us”.
The fix done so far should have temporarily restored service but a number of residents have said their service hasn't been back since the accident.
In some cases some internet service providers have offered to provide SIM cards with mobile data that residents could use while the service is being restored.
The telecoms box is at a busy junction and it is believed this is the third time in two years that the green box and the one adjacent to it was damaged by traffic accidents.
One resident said: "This outage is very worrying for vulnerable residents who regard the internet as a lifeline.
"It’s frustrating for people working from home because of Covid and children having to be schooled at home."
