FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) – Businesses along Main Avenue and 25th Street in Fargo are speaking out after a man was arrested for cutting wires inside a cable box, knocking out internet and phone service for many people.
According to Forbes, around 6 billion people around the world use the internet. Whether it’s scrolling, streaming, gaming, or whatever, it’s no exaggeration to say that access to the internet runs the world, even at work. Without it, there would be real chaos.
Timothy Windels, 36, was recently arrested by Fargo Police as a suspect in multiple incidents of fiber optic cables being cut inside outdoor cable boxes.
“The Internet is used pretty widely in business, and we use it for a variety of purposes,” said Paul Anderson, vice president and owner of Fargo Tire Service.
Fortunately, Anderson’s store on Main Avenue was spared the cable cut, but neighbouring businesses said they were without internet for the entire day.
Valley News Live spoke with an employee at OK Tire, also on Main Avenue, who declined to be interviewed but acknowledged there were internet issues.
Internet problems are something Anderson doesn’t want to think about because it’s so important to his business. “You know, all phone systems these days are VoIP, over the Internet,” Anderson says. “All you need is the Internet to get credit card approval!”
Many of the affected internet services are run through Midco, but the company has not yet responded to our inquiries. An employee at Midco’s office said this is a good reminder for businesses to maintain secondary internet services or have other back-up plans in place.
It is unclear at this stage exactly how many businesses have been affected, but OK Tyres has confirmed that it has already resumed business as usual.
Windels, who is homeless and is accused of these crimes, faces felony-level charges of tampering with public infrastructure and criminal damage to property.
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