Internet cut after suspected rodents chew cables in southern France

Several thousands people in the south of France were left without internet access or a telephone signal after animals chewed through a fibre optic wire.

The animals bit through a major cable linking Alès in the Gard department and Florac in Lozère, according to Orange, the service provider who manages the connection.

Around 30 communes in Lozère have been affected, and access has not yet been restored.

Orange has said, however, that the outage only affected wired communications – mobile phone wireless data (such as 4G and 5G) and calls to emergency services remain unaffected.

A team of engineers reconnected the wire on Thursday (August 10) morning, and after conducting a number of tests, connections were restored in the evening.

It is believed that rodents – most likely rats – were behind the damage, as they are known to sometimes bite through underground wires.

All in all, about thirty communes in the Lozère department were affected by outages, including Florac, Le Collet-de-Dèze, Ispagnac, Chanac and Meyrueis.

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