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Sections Home Page Local News AP News Archives Business Classifieds Event Calendar Forums Life Opinion Obituaries Photo Gallery Readers Photo Gallery Sports Tempo Weather Special Coverage 2006 Britt Festivals --> Shop Our Valley AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Search Our Valley Special Sections Homelife Magazine Joy Magazine Readers Choice 2006 Oregon Golf Info Oregon Wine Info Our Valley Other Publications Local Links Ashland News eSouthernOregon Newspapers In Education Personals Moving Here Movie Listings TV Listings Volunteer Customer Service Advertise With Us Media Kit Place Classified Ad Contact Us FAQ's Home Delivery Site Map --> Email Story to a Friend December 9, 2005 Medford phone service back Phones are ringing again in downtown Medford after a contractor accidentally cut a phone cable Wednesday interrupting service to city offices, including its emergency dispatch center, and other Qwest customers. Qwest had restored most service Thursday morning and had all lines back in operation by 4 p.m., said Bob Gravely, the company’s Oregon spokesman. 9-1-1 calls were routed to another dispatch center, Southern Oregon Regional Communications, during the outage and the capability to handle all 9-1-1 calls was reduced, Medford police Lt. Mike Moran said. The loss of phone service left Rogue Valley Coin and Jewelry Exchange, 41 S. Grape St., unable to process credit card transactions, which are usually sent over phone lines, co-owner Clare Cotta said. "One man needed jewelry for his wife’s birthday today, and we lost that sale," Cotta said Thursday afternoon. She also worried that customers trying to call couldn’t reach the store and might head elsewhere for holiday shopping. Gravely said a contractor accidentally cut a copper phone cable at about 11:15 a.m. Wednesday near Fir and Sixth streets while working on a city road and sewer project. The cable potentially can serve 600 customers, but Qwest only received about 50 complaints from people who lost service, Gravely said, noting that many customers don’t report outages. Crews had to splice the cable back together, matching 1,200 separate strands of wire in a time-consuming process, he explained. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback online casinos news Home Security Systems Windermere Van Vleet Men's Clothing Southern Oregon Loans --> GMAT Prep Fundraisers Send Flowers Texas Electric Choice Entertainment Guide --> Casinos Canada Trunks, Footlocker Online Casino Reviews Online poker at AbsolutePoker.com Advertisement s