There have been internet outages in Māngere Bridge and Onehunga. Photo: Supplied
Repair work has been "difficult" after public vandalism caused a widespread internet outage in the Auckland suburbs of Māngere Bridge and Onehunga, Chorus says.
The internet went down at 5.30am on Monday morning, and was still out for thousands.
In an update at 5pm on Tuesday, Chorus said four business connections and 2282 residential connections were still affected.
"Repairs have been difficult, due to the restricted space under the bridge and the number of fibres that were damaged and needed to be repaired," a spokesperson said.
"In order to ensure the quality of the repair, around 1km of fibre will be blown."
The spokesperson said work would be continuous until all services were restored.
"Multiple" crews were working around the clock on multiple cables to reconnect the internet.
"Obviously we are really disappointed that the actions of a few have led to inconvenience for so many and apologise to all who have been affected.
"We are grateful for the dedication of our teams who are working through the night to get people back online as soon as possible."
The spokesperson said Chorus expected to have all services restored by Wednesday afternoon.
An Auckland Councillor earlier said the widespread outage showed how reliant communities could be on technology.
Manukau ward councillor Lotu Fuli earlier said she hoped the community would be back online soon.
"It just shows, I guess, how reliant we have become as a society on these things and on technology, and when it does go wrong, the disruption that it causes to our lives," she said.
"I really do hope that it's sorted out as soon as possible so that our families can get back online and get back to work, but especially for our more vulnerable families, our seniors who rely on that for their doctor's appointments for example, our hospitals, our clinics and places like that who may be relying on it for really important equipment."
