Staff Reports
Poplar Bluff experienced a widespread outage of landline phones early Thursday morning.
Residents could not call in to the police department, city hall or some other businesses and homes.
The problems began around 3:30 a.m., but were not impacting 911 services, said chief police department communications officer Kim Johnson. The 911 lines are hardwired, and it is very unlikely to experience a problem with those services, she said.
Radio and cell phone communications with officers were not effected, but the department could not call out or receive calls through landlines, Johnson said.
The city was told AT&T was working on the problem, said city manager Mark Massingham. The city had not been told what caused the issues or when repairs would be complete, he said.
Callers received a message that said the numbers had been disconnected or were no longer in service. Businesses impacted included the local AT&T store.
A request for information made to AT&T's media relations department was not answered as of press time.