by SC Publisher Shannen Hayes
Sanibel residents and businesses will have Comcast service restored quicker than anticipated following Hurricane Ian. Restoration crews have been deployed island wide to fully rebuild the network heavily damaged by the storm.
Comcast Vice President of External Affairs Derek Cooper said restoration work is “well ahead of schedule.” Service was initially projected to be restored by Dec. 16, but island customers should now be back online by Nov. 22. And some already have service.
Service has been restored to 90 percent of Comcast customers on the island. Cooper said there are some “pockets” which will take longer for service to be restored. Work along the hardest-hit coastline may be impacted by access issues or additional damage crews must work around.
The restoration timeline is based on a number of factors, including remaining work to complete in a neighborhood or on a street, the ability to access locations, and whether debris will prevent crews from performing construction and connection work.
Cooper said customers with damaged equipment can replace it by visiting the Fort Myers Xfinity store, 8061 Dani Dr.
In the meantime, an Xfinity WiFi van is stationed east of Tarpon Bay Road and across from Billy’s Bike Shop at Bailey’s. The van provides free wireless internet service and will be open to connect from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily until further notice. Internet connectivity can be provided to more than 1,000 users at one time over a 300 square foot area.
Sanibel Island Updated Restoration Timelines
Northeast Sanibel: Woodring Point to Periwinkle Way; and Causeway Boulevard to Gumbo Limbo/Peaceful Drive
• Some customers are already restored
• Services will be predominantly restored Nov. 19
Central Sanibel: Lindgren Boulevard to Sanibel Recreation Center and Seagate
• Some customers are already restored
• Services will be predominantly restored Nov. 20
• Full restoration of services along the southern coastline in this area will be completed by Dec. 5
West Sanibel: Blind Pass Beach and The Castaways to Sanibel Recreation Center and Gulf Pines
• Services will be predominantly restored Nov. 20
• Full restoration of services near Castaway Beach will be completed Dec. 4
East Sanibel – Point Ybel and the Sanibel City Pier to Causeway Boulevard
• Some customers are already restored
• Services will be predominantly restored Nov. 22
• Full restoration of services along East Gulf Drive will be completed Dec. 5
According to this, we should have been restored 5 days ago but we are still out in Gulf Pines
Yes, and less than two days after this “big announcement” the service went down again and hasn’t been back on again since – five days! Nice publicity stunt Comcast!