Copper thefts blamed for extended AT&T outages in two Tarrant County communities

In two different areas of Tarrant County, AT&T customers reported experiencing days, or even weeks, without service.

Since Aug. 12, a black TV screen has been Ronny Sims’s constant companion.

A U-verse logo and a simple message letting him know that the service is not available are the only images lighting it up ever since it off while he was watching the news around 5:00 a.m. that day.  

“The TV just went off and I said, well things go off and come back but it never came back,” said Sims.

He soon realized, in addition to the cable, the Internet, and the landline, were also out.

Sims said he called AT&T to ask about restoration.

“They told me it would be the 19^th, which would be the following Monday, a week,” he said. “I gave them a call on the 19^th and they told me at that time that there was some copper theft and service should be back on the following day.”

When it wasn’t, he called again.

“I called them back on Wednesday and they told me that it would be the following day. Each day it was the next day, the next day, the next day,” said Sims.

When NBC 5 reached out about the outage Tuesday, a spokesperson said:

“Some customers in the Glendale area of Fort Worth may be experiencing service disruptions due to repeated incidences of copper theft in the area. Theft and vandalism of critical communications infrastructure are serious matters that disrupt essential services for our customers, public safety, and the community at large. We’re actively working with local law enforcement as they investigate to find those responsible.”

In a statement sent two hours earlier, they said, “Maintaining uninterrupted and high-quality service for customers is a top priority.”

Soon after, an NBC 5 crew saw AT&T linemen at work near Sims’s home. And by Tuesday evening, he said service was finally restored.

30 minutes away near Rendon, Jason Woolsey said he and several neighbors were still without Tuesday night.

“It changes everything you do. No internet, no phones, no TV. It’s kind of a big deal,” he said.

AT&T confirmed that the outage was also due to a copper line theft.

“A lot of folks out here work remotely. They run their businesses. They’re all impacted,” he said.

Like sims, Woolsey said restoration estimates keep sliding. Four times, he said he was told it would come back on when it didn’t.

While a spokesperson told NBC 5 that service had been restored Tuesday night, Woolsey said a support line estimated it would be restored by 8 p.m. Thursday.

“I think that’s the big challenge here. Take us seriously. You know we’re down. You’ve given us four failed estimate dates and we’re still not up,” he said.

While Sims said he’s considered switching service providers over the last couple of weeks, Woolsey said AT&T is the only one to run service in his area.

Thus far, he said he said he’s spent more on mobile data than he’s received through credit for the unexpected outage.

Now, he wants to know what AT&T will do to make it right.

“What’s AT&T going to do? When will it be back up? What can we expect from the customer standpoint?” he said.