Local long-distance carriers Sprint and TLD of the Virgin Islands and local Internet service provider VIAccess were still out of service Tuesday afternoon as a result of damage to a large telephone cable linking the territory and Isla Verde, Puerto Rico.
Carolyn Stokes, Sprint marketing executive for the Virgin Islands, said Tuesday afternoon that AT&T has sent a ship to the cable damage location to help with repairs.
A TLD spokesperson said she expected repairs to take another three to four days.
However, a knowledgeable source told the V.I. Source there was a "good chance" that voice lines would be restored by late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning and that Internet service could be back by as soon as Wednesday night.
Courtney Wynter, general manager of AT&T of the Virgin Islands, said AT&T is lending a hand because it is the communications company with the greatest resources in the area.
Meantime, the representatives of both Sprint and TLD suggested that their local customers wishing to make long-distance calls access AT&T for service. This can be done by calling 10-10-288 plus 1 plus the area code and number of the party being called.
For the time being, callers from outside the territory will not be able to reach Virgin Islands TLD and Sprint customers.
For Sprint and TLD customers using the AT&T code to call outside the territory, any higher rates incurred will be credited back to them, the company spokespersons said. Stokes said once Sprint customers receive the AT&T charges, they can simply fax the bill to Sprint and it will be re-rated. TLD is offering the same re-rating to its customers.
No officials of either company have said what happened to the cable, other than that the damage, which occurred Sunday night, is underwater. There has been speculation that it may have been caused by weather conditions or by a ship hitting the cable.
Some attempts are being made in Puerto Rico to re-route incoming calls, but no one could say Tuesday if or when these might be successful. Clayton Perry, TLD sales supervisor on St. Thomas, said efforts are being made to restore communications as quickly as possible. He said he was deeply concerned about how the loss of service, including 800 and similar toll-free lines, would affect not only his customers but all of the people of the Virgin Islands.
Wednesday is a big cruise ship day on St. Thomas. With many of the toll-free lines out of service, validation by local merchants of customers' credit card transactions takes much longer than usual.
