Multiple recent outages at an area internet service provider have frustrated residential and business users. Company representatives say third-party contractors who cut through fiber lines caused the problems.
New Lisbon Broadband and Communications, based in New Lisbon, provides internet connectivity and phone service to customers in Henry, Randolph, Rush and Wayne counties.
In addition to several brief outages in recent months, a Wednesday, July 1, outage affected NLBC services for approximately eight hours in some locations. A second outage on July 16 lasted over 10 hours for some customers.
In both cases, the company’s social media postings attributed service being down to cuts in fiber optic cables NLBC uses. A letter sent to customers by Sam Petty, the company’s chief executive officer, said excavation contractors were to blame. “Our network is built with redundancy to help minimize outages, but when multiple critical fiber routes are damaged, even those safeguards can be impacted,” Petty wrote.
As households increasingly rely on such connections for everyday activities and communication, and sometimes for remote work and school classes, so does awareness when something isn’t working right.
Customers responding to the company’s woes on social media expressed a mix of support for NLBC technicians working to repair cut lines, frustration about service being down and requests to have monthly bills reflect a service credit.
Several customers noted that NLBC’s own customer support phone number can be unreachable during outages, exacerbating the challenge of getting help.
Others tried to find humor in the situation, with one suggesting company representatives “turn it off and back on again.”
Founded in 2014, NLBC offers connectivity through fiber-optic cable, wireless and other technologies, as well as phone service and streaming TV channels. The company has participated in the state’s Next Level Connections Broadband program bringing internet options to underserved communities across Indiana.
In the first rounds of the program it received over $130,000 in state matching funding to bring connections to 34 addresses. In the 2024 funding round, that jumped to $5.29 million in matching state grants to connect over 600 residential addresses and 84 business/community addresses, potentially allowing the company to build an even broader regional fiber network.
In 2024 there were changes in NLBC’s top leadership, according to filings with the Indiana Secretary of State’s office.
A list of WWN’s questions emailed to company officials about the outages and how they are addressing them did not receive a response, and phone messages were not returned.
The company’s website encourages customers with questions to call 765-332-2885 or email contact@nlbc.com.
A version of this article appeared in the July 29 2026 print edition of the Western Wayne News.
