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Verizon service restored after massive outage across Tampa Bay area

Cut fiber-optic cable to blame for outage
Verizon outages reported across Tampa Bay
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Verizon service across the Tampa Bay area has been restored after a massive outage Thursday evening.

Verizon's live map showed thousands of outages were reported across Tampa, St. Pete, Lakeland and many other Tampa Bay area cities.

Mobile internet, mobile phone and landline internet services were all reported in the outage.

A spokesperson told Abc Action News, early Friday morning, that all services were restored by 2:45 a.m.

"Verizon Wireless experienced interruption in service in the Tampa Bay area last night. Engineers were able to identify and resolve the issue and service was restored by 2:45 a.m. this morning."

Initially, Verizon didn't state what caused the outage. However, some customers tweeted that the company told them it was because a major fiber-optic cable was cut.

Verizon later confirmed a cut fiber-optic cable was the reason many were without wireless service.

"Thanks for reaching out.  Yes, the service disruption was caused by a fiber cut., with service restored by 2:45 am local time.  Unfortunately, I cannot confirm the number of customers impacted."    

During the outage, many local 911 centers, including the Pasco County Sheriff's Office, were unable to receive calls from Verizon wireless customers.

As Verizon worked to restore service, they began to receive calls from Verizon wireless customers.