Cut fiber optic lines at multiple locations shut down the internet to local schools and regional institutions. Yesterday, KanREN, the internet service provider to Pittsburg State University, the City of Pittsburg, Pittsburg USD 250, Frontenac USD 249, Fort Scott Community College, Fort Scott USD 234, Central Burden USD 462, Prairie View USD 362, and the Linn County Library went down after fiber links were cut between Pittsburg and Kansas City and Pittsburg and Wichita.

PSU has a full ring network for redundancy – one line to Kansas City and one to Wichita. Chief Information Officer for PSU Angela Neria, said that both lines have not been cut since the ring was put into place over a decade ago, and unfortunately it happened during finals week for students which made for a truly perfect storm.

KGGF news has confirmed that PSU’s internet is back up and running this morning. See the story above for information about the outage and steps taken to correct the situation from  KanREN's Interim Executive Director Bradley Hook.