FCC Investigates CenturyLink After 911 Outage - UPDATE

   By Patrick Thomas 
 

The Federal Communications Commission is investigating CenturyLink Inc. (CTL) as a nationwide outage has prevented some customers from dialing 911 emergency services, regulators said Friday.

The FCC said its investigating the cause and impact of the outage, which has affected 911 service for CenturyLink consumers in multiple states. In a statement, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai called the service outage unacceptable and said the duration of it is troubling. CenturyLink first said it had a service disruption Thursday afternoon. A company representative couldn't be immediately reached for comment.

"This inquiry will include an examination of the effect that CenturyLink's outage appears to have had on other providers' 911 services," Mr. Pai said in the statement. "I have also spoken with CenturyLink to underscore the urgency of restoring service immediately."

In a tweet Friday afternoon, the Monroe, La.-based CenturyLink said it was "seeing good progress," but restoration isn't complete. The company said customers should use their wireless phones to call 911 or drive to the nearest fire station or emergency facility.

Shares of CenturyLink rose 1.3% during afternoon trading. The stock is down about 8% for the year.

Write to Patrick Thomas at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 28, 2018 14:35 ET (19:35 GMT)

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