Do you remember the good ol’ days of landlines and dial-up? When episodes of Seinfeld premiered on network television instead of streaming as reruns? When the Atlanta Braves played on TBS every night, and staying connected meant being home to answer the phone? For many in Lamar County, those memories felt a little too real today as Verizon’s cell service outage left people wondering what life was like before everyone had reliable cell phone service.
During a heavy rain storm on Tuesday, December 10, voice, text, data, and home internet services were disrupted for Verizon customers in the Barnesville area, including customers of other cellular carriers that lease Verizon’s towers. This includes Spectrum’s cellular service and Straight Talk among other smaller carriers.
According to Verizon, service was first interrupted Tuesday evening at 9:25 PM. The Lamar County workforce had to get creative today in many avenues of their jobs and social lives. For some, this meant reverting to using a desktop computer. One person shared how she resorted to telling her husband about her day over email instead of texting periodically throughout the day. For others, it was a very quiet day. Some couples did not talk at all until their significant other was home. Others engaged more in face-to-face conversations. Younger locals expressed frustration about not being able to check their social media accounts until they could connect to a Wi-Fi network. We should assume that fewer students were sneaking their phones under their desks at school today.
Verizon says that its engineers are in the process of repairing the local tower that provides service to its customers. According to their website, service is expected to be fully restored Thursday morning at 5:03 AM. Until then, internet, voice, and text functions can be operated on a very limited basis. Most smartphones also allow for phone calls and texts to be sent over Wi-Fi networks—a solution that might feel nostalgically reminiscent of using a landline. Remember those?
We will provide updates to this situation, as necessary.
Update: Service has been restored.
Grant Turner is the editor of the Barnesville Buzz and an educator, coach, and writer based in Barnesville, Georgia. He shares stories that bridge community, faith, and personal growth. In addition to teaching and coaching, Grant is Director of Musical Worship and a Sunday School teacher at New Hope Baptist Church in Zebulon, Georgia. He lives in Barnesville with his wife, Haley.
