October 24, 2002 — (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — According to reports released Wednesday, two arson attacks were responsible for bringing down parts of telecommunications carrier British Telecom?s network in and around Manchester.
The attacks are said to have occurred during the night, when several man-hole covers were lifted, and bins of ignited gasoline were poured in.
Nine points of presence were sabotaged at the two locations in the Salford Quays district, say the reports, and local police are currently investigating the attacks.
BT says the attacks obviously involved malicious intent. The fire in the man-holes caused network cables to melt, causing network congestion in the area. The company has engineers working at the site, and says at least three other operators that use its network have been affected. Trunk traffic is being re-routed around BT?s network center in Oswestry, Shropshire due to the loss of fiber SDH backhaul links.
