Construction crews on Sheridan Road severed two major phone cables Monday night, affecting analog telephone services in about 30 South Campus locations, including Allison Hall and the Rebecca Crown office building.

Julian Koh, associate director for Northwestern IT Telecommunications and Network Services, said the cables were not completely severed but will have to be replaced in order to restore connections to the affected buildings. No IP or data network services were affected by the incident, which occurred on the corner of Chicago and Sheridan, where Northwestern is installing new street lighting

“It is a very unusual event to have a cut of this magnitude,” Koh said. “Doing this repair job … it is a really significant piece of work.”

Koh said he is unsure how long it will take for maintenance crews to splice and reconnect the roughly 6,000 pairs of cables that made up the two larger connections. He hopes full restoration will happen Wednesday evening.

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