Pyrénées-Orientales: new Internet shutdown in Fenouillèdes, angry traders

More than 2,000 Orange subscribers were once again deprived of the Internet this Wednesday, December 23, 2020, between 8 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., in a large part of Fenouillèdes. Retailers, whose activity is impacted (credit card terminals and cash dispensers out of service), are particularly upset. It would be, according to them, at least the seventh cut since the beginning of November.

The cup is full for the inhabitants of the area. And in particular for several traders and structures of Saint-Paul-de-Fenouillet hit hard by repeated Internet cuts on the Orange network. The most recent, which occurred this Wednesday at the stroke of 8 a.m., was still in progress in the middle of the day, until 3:30 p.m.

“These cuts sometimes last several days, ensures the tobacconist of the village, Bruno Deneuville. However, without Internet, we cannot cash the credit cards, the ATMs do not work and we can no longer even make gasoline in Saint-Paul, because there is only one vending machine which is also out of service. . ”

A disaster

Individuals subscribing to Orange are also affected by the phenomenon. “There are some isolated houses where people have phones only with Internet. How do they do if they have to make an emergency call?”, asks Bruno Deneuville.

André Manzanarès, caterer on the Saint-Paul market, which was held this Wednesday morning, is also back. “It’s a catastrophe, he believes. Customers can no longer withdraw money and they do not want to buy on credit. I would cry. Already the situation is not easy … During the last cut, I lost three quarters of my turnover. “

The disconnected nursing home

To make matters worse, the Saint-Paul health center is also disconnected during cuts. And therefore can no longer access patient files via their vital card. “If I have a heart attack and I run into a doctor who doesn’t know me, he won’t be able to know what treatment I’m taking …”, summarizes André Manzanarès.

For its part, the regional management of Orange, which also noted local disturbances on its mobile network, indicates that the problem this Wednesday was once again linked to the cut of a cable during “Roadworks” led by “a third party” at Estagel.

A total of 2,090 customers would have been deprived of the Internet according to the company, which had already dispatched a team to the site at midday to locate the failure and remedy it.

About fifteen municipalities in the sector, including St-Paul and Estagel, but also Tautavel, Vingrau or Maury, would have been impacted.

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