Update: Sparklight said the service interruption was “resolved” as of 3:45 p.m. Wednesday.
Hundreds of Beaufort County residents were experiencing internet issues Wednesday afternoon as the area’s major provider reported a “service interruption” across South Carolina and Georgia.
The interruption was affecting “internet, phone and video services” in the area, Sparklight said in a social media post around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday. In an update soon after, the company said the cause “may be a fiber cut” based on findings from its local team.
Reports of connectivity issues began around 1 p.m. Wednesday from Sparklight customers across Beaufort, Bluffton and Hilton Head Island, according to user-generated reports on the website Downdetector. The outage also impacted county offices and libraries.
Local dispatch and 911 services were still working Wednesday afternoon, according to Robert Herlong of the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
Sparklight, formerly known as Hargray, serves over 1 million customers in 24 states. It’s the phone and internet provider for the majority of residents and businesses in the Beaufort County area.
Pictured is /Sparklight, a broadband communications provider that is part of the Cable One family, that offers service to residential and business customers in 24 states, including in the Lowcountry, its office photographed on March 20, 2025, on Hilton Head Island.
Fiber cuts have led to Sparklight outages in the Hilton Head area at least two other times this year. The latest interruption happened in June after a lightning strike damaged the company’s equipment at a local site.
This report will be updated.