No Power Means No Cable As Olympic Games Begin
By Pat Loeb
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - With the Olympics opening ceremony scheduled for tonight, local cable customers are wondering if they're going to have cable service in time to watch them. Providers are trying to be reassuring.
"Our preparations began when the news of the storm first came to the area," says Comcast spokesman Jeff Alexander.
He says the cable company brought crews in from elsewhere, put extra generators in service and deployed them all to strategic locations so they could respond quickly -- and they have.
"Our technical crews have been working in impacted areas where it's safe to do so and they'll continue to work around the clock."
Alexander says most outages are power related and customers should have cable when the lights go back on. That's what Verizon says too.
A spokesman says Verizon was not greatly impacted-- with just 12 downed poles and 1,400 reports of no service. Comcast could not provide a number for customers who lost service in the storm.