Phone service disrupted at senior high-rise for three weeks

Jun. 24—SCRANTON — A little more than three weeks ago, damaged copper cables cut landline phone service residents of a downtown senior high-rise count on.

In the coming days, Mulberry Tower's management hopes it will finally come back.

Verizon phone service should be restored sometime next week, said property manager Kim Dempsey, citing a recent conversation with Frontier Communications. Frontier leases the lines, said Lori Ragaglia, assistant community manager.

"People here rely on their landline for food deliveries, rides to the grocery store, rides to their doctor's appointments," Dempsey said. "They can't call, unless they have a neighbor that's nice enough to let them use the phone."

Service went down June 2, management and residents said, not long after waves of severe thunderstorms dumped between one and two inches of water on Scranton.

A third-party contractor who is not affiliated with Verizon damaged copper cables while working at the property and caused a service disruption for "some customers," spokesman Chris Serico said in an email. After, engineers began the process of cable repair and replacement.

"Because these repairs must follow safety protocols, logistics and regulations, this process sometimes requires additional time and patience," Serico said.

He said service has been restored for many customers in the building and noted the company offered a home phone service that utilizes a wireless signal as a backup.

Dempsey said many of the residents who reported a service disruption early in June still did not have phone service as of Thursday.

Many residents said three weeks of silence from their phone receivers left them frustrated and cut off.

Eleanor Zagata, 89, said her Life Alert Emergency Response system is connected to the phone line. Since her service was disrupted, the medical alert system has not worked, she said.

"I do have a cell phone to call somebody but that's the primary thing — to push that button instead of trying to find a cell phone and dial a number," Zagata said.

Romaine Ray, 97, said days went by without word from the phone company on the issue. She said she wished for more transparency from them.

"This is a big thing, your phone service," she said.

Ragaglia said the majority of the building's 192 apartments are occupied and most of the residents are seniors. Crews have regularly worked outside the building since service went down but Dempsey said she feels their frustration.

"Each day went by (and) we would check the ticket number and it would say 'in progress,'" Dempsey said. "And every week, we've been getting 'it's going to be resolved on Friday.' Friday comes around, it doesn't get resolved. And we come in on Monday and the issue is still there."

Contact the writer: jkohut@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9100, x5187; @jkohutTT on Twitter.