Optimum Outage Hits Northeast, Leaves Thousands Without Service

Optimum users in the Northeast faced significant service disruptions on Monday evening, with widespread outages reported across New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The issue, which began around 8 p.m. EST, saw a sharp increase in complaints, with DownDetector.com recording over 10,000 reports by 9:30 p.m.

The majority of users reported issues with their landline internet, accounting for 56% of the complaints. However, a notable 25% of customers experienced a total blackout, a sharp rise from the initial 18% reported earlier in the evening. As of 10:50 p.m., the number of affected users dropped to just over 1,400, indicating that some services were being restored.

Optimum's customer service lines were flooded with calls, leading to extended wait times. While the official estimate was 35 minutes, some customers reported being on hold for over an hour. The frustration led many to express their concerns on social media, particularly on X (formerly Twitter), where @OptimumHelp acknowledged the outage but could not provide an estimated time for the restoration of services.

The outage has raised concerns among Optimum’s large customer base in the Metro New York area, as many rely on the service for both personal and professional needs. The company has assured customers that efforts are underway to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.