Some Hollywood Hills neighbors lost access to their landline phones Wednesday after their service provider, AT&T, said a copper wire theft caused a disruption.
While many families opt out of landline phones these days, those who live in the hillside community said a landline can be a lifeline in emergency situations, including a wildfire and a storm, especially given that some parts of the area do not have cellphone service.
“It’s terrifying. Honestly, it is. I go to bed I’m slightly anxious,” said Ruth Vitale, who has been living in the Laurel Canyon section of Hollywood Hills since 1988. “When the electricity goes out during a storm, which it did for four days two years ago, your phone won’t work.”
Vitale said she pays $228 a month to keep the landlines in case she needs to communicate with loved ones during emergencies.
Neighbors have said their phones stopped working last Thursday, according to We Are Laurel Canyon, a nonprofit that advocates for public safety in the historic Laurel Canyon neighborhood.
“We’ve got some 80- or 90-year-old people who, in an emergency, cannot call their family; they cannot contact anyone to say that something has happened,” said Kristen Stavola, executive director of We Are Laurel Canyon. “This is an area filled with dead zones for cell service, and this is why people are so attached to their landlines.”
AT&T did not say how many customers were impacted or when landline service would be restored, but the company confirmed the service disruption is related to an “ongoing copper theft in the area.”
AT&T said its crews were working to restore service to affected customers.
