Anthony Holgin

Anthony Holgin
...
Anthony Holgin, a Qwest training manager, shows the thousands of wires bundled inside a cable.

...
If one of these large cables is mangled, repair can be a complicated process, said Anthony Holgin, who runs Qwest's facility to train technicians to repair cables.

Holgin explained that it can take hours to track down the precise location of the cut, find out what other utilities are nearby, dig down to the cut and shore up a safe work area.Then the workers must connect the correct wire from one side of the cut with the right wire on the other side, one pair at a time.

Qwest said one reasonthe cuts are increasing in Arizona is new construction equipment.In the past, a backhoe operator had a chance to see buried ducts and avoid damage.Now directional boring equipment allows excavators to drill for hundreds of feet in any direction through rock, steel or copper cables and fiber optics.