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Inland Cellular still working to restore voice service

CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 6 years, 11 months AGO
by CHERYL SCHWEIZER
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | August 13, 2018 5:11 PM

SPOKANE — Inland Cellular customers may see a resumption of voice service by late Monday evening, according to a press release issued by the company Monday afternoon.

“In order to restore our voice network, there are a variety of technical elements that need to align. Because of these many variables providing a definite timeline for restoration is difficult,” according to a statement on the company’s Facebook page. “Every effort is being made to restore service by late tonight.”

Inland Cellular customers lost voice service Sunday evening. A press release from Inland Cellular said the company experienced a “major commercial power disruption.”

The company’s data and email services were restored Sunday night.

The disruption was a fire on the Lewiston Grade along Highway 95 near Lewiston, Idaho. The fire damaged or destroyed electrical transformers in the area, which caused power surges that damaged the company’s equipment, the press release said.

The damage was so severe it “destroyed our battery backups and generators, damaging essential hardware and information. We were unable to implement our backup voice switch.”

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