Man digging causes internet blackout

The internet blackout caused problems for businesses and schools.

Internet was cut to hundreds of people in the Bay of Plenty region yesterday, proving a "nightmare" for some local business owners.

About 700 Telecom customers were affected when a fibre-optic cable was accidentally cut by a farmer who was digging on his Pukekauri Rd property, near Waihi.

The cut happened about 9am, with customers unable to access the internet for several hours as Telecom technicians worked to repair the damage.

Customers from Rotorua, Tokoroa, Tauranga, Taupo and Waihi, as well as parts of Hawke's Bay, experienced the internet outage, with most of them connected through a fibre network.

Telecom retail media manager Lucy Fullarton said the incident was not common, as there were several policies in place to ensure people knew where cables were and did not cut through them.

"Sometimes if there's roadworks, it might happen, but it's rare," she said.

"We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience to our customers and appreciate their patience."

Ms Fullarton said the outage was unlikely to have impacted many mobile phone devices.

Several businesses and schools had also been affected by the cut.

Rotorua woman Sian Roberts, who owns jewellery business Cobalt Heights, said the cut proved incredibly frustrating since she relied on the internet to sell her goods.

She was also preparing for a promotional event and some of her products featured on the site GrabOne when the outage happened.

"It couldn't have happened at a worse time. I didn't know what happened, so I called Telecom and they put me on hold for more than 45 minutes, only to tell me that they didn't know what the problem was," she said.

"It's just been a nightmare."

Ms Roberts, who runs her businesses from home while raising two young children, said she believed the cut had put her out of pocket by hundreds of dollars.

"It's hard to give an exact figure, but I would say hundreds of dollars. It's cost me money and it's certainly cost me time."

Ms Roberts was able to connect to the internet using 3G on her mobile phone late yesterday afternoon, but she expected a costly bill for it.

She said she hoped Telecom would cover the extra data cost incurred.

Dozens of Rotorua schools, including Glenholme and Westbrook primary schools were also affected by the cut, putting teachers and administrators behind in their work.

Glenholme School administration manager Lynette Turton said the cut meant staff would have double the workload tomorrow.

"Teachers and students rely on many electronic systems, the roll for instance, and that's all done over the internet. So it means they will have a bigger workload tomorrow."