
ALTON — Internet and telephone services were disrupted Wednesday morning, Nov. 19, 2025, for many residents and public service entities in Alton, Illinois, including Riverbender.com offices, following what Spectrum described as a “criminal attack” on its communications infrastructure.
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The outage affected all Alton city facilities except the police department, causing interruptions to telephone and internet connectivity.
Spectrum also reported that some residential customers experienced service disruptions.
Spectrum informed the City of Alton that approximately 300 feet of fiber optic cable and 300 feet of coaxial cable were damaged overnight. The city’s Information Technology Department said in a public notice that the damage impacted all city facilities except the police department. Alton City Hall and the Public Works offices remained open during the outage but were unable to accept credit card payments, according to a Facebook post from the city.
Spectrum crews were on-site working to restore services throughout the morning and reported that connectivity was restored around 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025.
The City of Alton said it would provide updates as more information became available and thanked the public for their patience during the repair efforts.