A gas line repair that went wrong left about 15,000 Xfinity customers in southeast Albuquerque without internet for nearly 24 hours, highlighting ongoing infrastructure damage problems as multiple fiber companies install new networks across the city.
About 15,000 internet customers in southeast Albuquerque regained service Tuesday evening after a 24-hour outage that disrupted homes and businesses from Nob Hill to the University area. The outage began on Monday at 5:50 p.m. when New Mexico Gas Company crews accidentally severed a Comcast fiber optic line while responding to a gas leak at the intersection of Elm Street and Silver Avenue.
NMGC officials said that the gas line they were repairing had itself been severed by a “third-party” company performing a bore to install fiber-optic lines.
An Xfinity statement confirmed that “a third party severed a Comcast fiber optic line” at Elm and Silver on Monday evening, adding that crews had been working around the clock to repair it.
Online records show a contractor for Gigapower, one of three companies installing fiber optic lines in Albuquerque, was active in the area when the gas leak occurred.
The outage comes as Albuquerque grapples with ongoing infrastructure damage from multiple fiber internet companies installing new networks across the city. Both Vexus Fiber and Ezee Fiber had stop-work orders lifted on July 14 after months of resident complaints about damaged utilities, broken sidewalks and construction violations.
Albuquerque has faced ongoing issues with several companies installing fiber internet infrastructure. The city has implemented new rules for internet service providers, following what Mayor Tim Keller described as the need to “do construction in a safe way that respects neighborhoods.”
Previous incidents include gas line ruptures, water line damage, and sewer disruptions caused by fiber installation crews. According to city officials, Ezee Fiber alone had 46 active construction crews operating in the city before receiving a stop-work order in May.
New Mexico Gas Company completed repairs to the damaged gas line early Tuesday morning and turned the location over to Comcast for internet infrastructure repairs. Service was fully restored by Tuesday evening.
Comcast Xfinity customers can check outage status through the Xfinity app or at Xfinity.com/outage, and can sign up for text notifications by adding their mobile number to their account.