Heat shutters Orbitel service on consecutive days

The heat is blamed for knocking out many Maricopan’s connection to the internet, phone services and cable television for the second time in two days.

Orbitel Communications experienced outages Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons due to failing air conditioning units that caused its headend, a centralized technology platform that receives communication signals, to overheat and shut down.

Subscribers expressed frustration in the comment section of the company’s announcement on social media.

“Second day in a row that has affected (sic) my ability to do my job,” wrote Chris Maloney, who said he uses the internet to work from home.

Others demanded monetary credit for the time services were down.

Orbitel Communications CEO John Schurz said the company plans to replace some of the troubled AC units.

“This is a horrible thing and it’s something that unfortunately with the Arizona heat that we have to deal with all summer, but this one has been especially bad,” Schurz said Wednesday.

Seven AC units froze Tuesday, increasing the headend’s temperature to 111 degrees. By Wednesday morning, four of the seven were reportedly running.

“Most services are working at this time, however, services may be interrupted as the temperatures start to heat up today,” a statement published on the Orbitel website Wednesday morning stated.

The announcement concluded with an expectation that all units would be fixed by the afternoon.

However, as the heat reached record-breaking temperatures, the company announced the headend was again overheating – causing a second outage around 4:50 p.m.

Schurz said employees are monitoring the situation around the clock.

“My understanding is that right now services are starting to come back up and hopefully we’ll get some units replaced so this doesn’t happen another time,” Schurz said.