Portugal Telecom (PT) has confirmed that approximately 250 kilometres of phone lines have been destroyed in this summer’s devastating fires.
Throughout the country, approximately 50 kilometres of optic fibre and 3,500 phone connections were destroyed, 600 of which have now been replaced. The worst hit regions were the Algarve and Baixo Alentejo, where the fires raged out of control for days, destroying everything in their paths, including 500 telephone poles.
Approximately 120 residents in São Barnabé and Castro Verde have been left without a phone line, but a spokesperson from PT reassured The Resident that “all phone connections should be working by mid-August. In fact, PT workers are already working in some areas”.
In Portimão and Tavira, 820 residents have been left without a phone connection, but the spokesperson said that everything should be 100 per cent operational within a week. He went on to explain that the phone lines in Barranco-o-Velho and Cachopo are being replaced by radios, so that the problem can be solved more quickly.
Of the 20 phone networks affected in Portugal, two have yet to be repaired – one in Azinhal, Tavira and a small network in Monchique. Around 200 residents rely on these two networks.
