Thousands of telephone services in and around Grafton remain down after a deliberately lit fire destroyed fibre optic cables.
The cables on the Grafton Bridge were severed at around 1.30 this morning, after vandals broke open a steel cover and set fire to them.
More than 4000 landlines and 10 mobile phone towers were affected.
Phone traffic between Sydney and Brisbane was down for several hours before being re-routed through inland connections.
It could be days before services are restored.
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