“Service for some customers in Nashville and the surrounding area could be affected by the damage to our facilities caused by the explosion this morning. We are in contact with law enforcement authorities and working as quickly and safely as possible to restore service,” said Jim Greer , spokesman for AT&T.
Greer told CNN that a network hub was damaged.
When a network hub is disrupted, usually by a hurricane or other natural disaster, some of the Internet traffic can be redirected, but not all.
That is why customers in Nashville and other parts of Tennessee have reported the loss of wireless service and other connectivity.
Network hubs rely on commercial power with battery and generator backups. Damage to the installation may have impacted these systems and caused service degradation at the end of the day on Friday.
The outage at the center’s network hub had cascading effects at the airport and elsewhere.
AT&T is deploying portable cell towers in Nashville to support law enforcement and improve wireless service. CNN’s parent company WarnerMedia is owned by AT&T.
Nashville International Airport said telecommunications problems associated with the explosion caused the Federal Aviation Administration to halt flights from Nashville briefly.
The FAA said the ground stop was suspended after about an hour. “Pilots have never lost touch with air traffic control,” the agency said in a statement.
The FAA website shows that the ground stop was issued due to a ZME frequency disruption.
ZME is an FAA air traffic control facility in Memphis, responsible for controlling aircraft in the area at higher altitudes.
Flight service at Nashville International Airport “continues to be affected by telecommunications problems,” said an airport tweet at around 3:30 pm CT.
“Some flight corridors have been restored, while others remain closed,” said the tweet.