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Many S. Floridians Still Without Phone Service, Cable TV

Posted on: Wednesday, 2 November 2005, 15:00 CST

By Ian Katz, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Nov. 2--Nearly a half-million BellSouth customers in South Florida remained without phone service Tuesday as rain threatened to slow repair work.

BellSouth said 192,000 lines were down in Broward, accounting for one of every five customers in the county. In Palm Beach, 135,000, or 17 percent of customers, were without service. In Miami-Dade the repairs are further along, but 147,000, or 11 percent, are still without a working phone.

Rain in South Florida could slow progress in the coming days, the company said.

Comcast said Tuesday it had restored service to 54 percent of its distribution facilities, which connect cable service to homes. Comcast has not released specific numbers of customers without service.

The company said it was focusing on repairing lines that connect homes to distribution facilities.

Spokesman Spero Canton cited two main reasons why customers who have electric power might not have cable service: The line that connects cable to the individual home might be severed, or the distribution facility that serves that home might not have electricity -- even if the home does.

Meanwhile, about two-thirds of Adelphia customers now have cable service, the company said. In the southern part of Palm Beach County, 60 percent of subscribers are up and running. In the central section, including West Palm Beach, 46 percent have working cable. In the north, which includes Palm Beach Gardens, 71 percent have service.

In Broward, 93 percent of Adelphia's customers have service, and in Miami-Dade the number is 79 percent.

TO CALL YOUR COMPANY

Phone, cable and satellite TV companies

--BellSouth: 888-757-6500 residential; 866-620-6000 small business; 800-945-6500 other businesses

--Comcast: 954-Comcast or 305-Comcast

--Adelphia: 888-683-1000

--Advanced Cable: 954-753-0100

--DirecTV: 800-Directv

--Dish Network: 800-333-Dish

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To see more of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel -- including its homes, jobs, cars and other classified listings -- or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.sun-sentinel.com.

Copyright (c) 2005, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

BLS, CMCSK,

Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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