DEMING — Back-to-back, prolonged service outages left Comcast internet customers in Deming without internet service for a total exceeding three days.

As confirmed by the company, Comcast’s Xfinity internet service went down first on Thursday afternoon at approximately 1 p.m. for about eight hours. During the afternoon, some businesses were forced to accept only cash, while some — including the Peppers Supermarket Old Glory gas station and convenience store and the Circle K further south on the Columbus Highway — simply closed their doors. Other businesses, subscribing to other providers, carried on as normal.

On Friday, service went down again around 8 p.m. for an outage that would last through the weekend and most of Monday. After 68 more hours, Xfinity began notifying customers that service had been restored a little after 4 p.m.

Altogether, Xfinity was dark for 76 hours between Thursday and Tuesday.

Comcast did not respond directly to queries from the Headlight, stating through a publicist that Xfinity’s third-party fiber network had been compromised Thursday during construction work unrelated to Comcast’s operations.

When state Rep. Jenifer Jones, R-Deming, made inquiries of her own, she heard from area vice president Chris Dunkeson that the fiber system, operated by telecommunications company Lumen, remained under repair.

“From what I understand, the interruption in fiber network is near Los Lunas and affects a large area to the south,” Jones wrote in a statement issued via social media. “I wish I had better news to report as Internet access is critical for those of you who work or attend school online.”

To read the rest of the article, visit The Deming Headlight.