AN investigation is underway in relation to an Optus communications tower being damaged at Hexham.
About 3.15pm on Wednesday 5 November, officers from Newcastle City Police District responded to reports of a communications tower situated along Maitland Road being maliciously damaged.
The fibre break impacted Optus customers in Port Stephens, Maitland and surrounding areas.
Mobile voice and mobile data services were impacted, as was the ability for some to connect to Triple Zero.
The damage is believed to have been caused about 9.30am on Wednesday morning.
Optus technicians restored services to the majority of impacted sites by the late afternoon, with all services restored by 9pm.
Welfare checks were completed for Optus customers who attempted to call Triple Zero during the outages.
As investigations continue police are urging anyone with information about the incident – or was in the area at the time with any available dashcam/mobile phone footage – to contact Newcastle Police Station or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
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