Contractor knocks out some North Side phones

YOUNGSTOWN — Phone service is expected to be restored by noon Thursday to North Side homes and businesses that lost service Tuesday, AT&T said.

Service was knocked out Tuesday afternoon when a contractor severed an underground cable in the 700 block of Belmont Ave., said Bob Beasley, a company spokesman. Repair crews have been on the job since then and will continue until the work is completed, he said.

“Repairing these cables is very tedious,” he said.

About 140 customers filed complaints about a lack of service, but Beasley said others could have been affected. Those who lost service were in the 743 exchange and were in the vicinity of where the cable was cut, he said.