ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — A Spectrum representative has confirmed that the Spectrum internet and phone line outage today was caused by a suspected “criminal attack” in south Asheville.
“The outage today was the result of a criminal attack in which vandals pulled wires down from utility pole around London Rd,” said Lara Pritchard, vice president of regional communications at Spectrum, in an email to 828newsNOW.
“These attacks disrupt service for residents and businesses in the area. Our technical teams are working to restore services as quickly as possible. We expect folks to start to see their services coming back online over the next hour, or so.”
Pritchard said that criminal attacks on communications infrastructure have been a growing issue for the entire telecommunications industry. According to Pritchard, the telecommunications industry endured over 18,000 criminal attacks in 2025 in a 59% increase from 2024. 11.8 million customers across the United States were affected.
“Unfortunately, in many instances, thieves are cutting lines, assuming there’s copper, only to realize Spectrum’s fiber optic cable contains none,” Pritchard said.
Spectrum is offering a reward of “up to $25,000” for information that leads to an arrest. Tips can be submitted to the Asheville Police Department or by contacting Spectrum at 833-404-TIPS.
Rick Rice, APD public information officer, said that a Spectrum employee had contacted APD and filed an incident report at 11:58 a.m. this morning, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026.