-
‘Notable’ 4.7 magnitude earthquake jolts south-west of France
Schools were evacuated and locals near Tarbes and Lourdes report feeling the earth moving and hearing vibrations
-
EU ruling on French inheritance law drags due to volume of complaints
Many British and American people in France face uncertainty over their wills due to 2021 French law
-
Latest on tiger mosquitoes in France: where, what risk and what to do
Health fears mount as Olympic Games approach
Internet cut after suspected rodents chew cables in southern France
Phone lines were also cut in a dozen communes. Both have since been restored
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.
Read also
Power cut hits nearly 90,000 homes in southern France after explosion
It was not all bad: 5 positive French stories to end week on a high
French village slashes electricity bills by using old watermill site
This road sign is popping up more and more in France