Internet service restoration lags electricity, 12,000 Mediacom customers still out in Cedar Rapids

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) - While power is back for most, many are still waiting on internet service providers to reconnect that service.

Corey Bowman, a Mediacom representative, spoke at today’s Cedar Rapids storm recovery briefing. He said that about 12,000 Cedar Rapids customers are still without internet service. Initially, 45,000 customers lost their connections in the wake of the derecho.

The company said that those without internet service may have a damaged line to their home, which Bowman said should be called into Mediacom to make sure its crews have a work order to repair it. He also described more significant damage, which could mean several weeks of disruption before it is fixed permanently.

”We are working on some temporary options and repairs to get people up quickly and come back and finish the rebuild at a later time,” Bowman said. “Some areas will require a complete network rebuild because of the extensive damage and those will be completed in the next few weeks.”

The company said, in a statement posted to its website, that around 14,000 total customers in Iowa are still without service after the derecho. They reiterated that crews, which are said to be working seven days a week, cannot repair cable lines until electrical lines have been safely reconnected by power companies, though the vast majority of customers are reconnected to electricity as of Monday.

Mediacom said that it would be releasing more specific details on the estimated times for service restoration soon.

Rival cable company ImOn said that it had restored service to around 75% of its customers who had lost it after the storm two weeks ago. A representative said its crews are also working seven days a week to help complete repairs.

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