COMMUNICATIONS BLACKOUT: ‘Glitch’ Leaves West End in the Dark; One Communications Blames Billing System Gremlins

FREDERIKSTED — Frustration mounted across St. Croix and St. Thomas today as residents woke up to “SOS” icons on their screens and dead silence on their lines, following reports of a rolling network outage affecting One Communications subscribers.

While the company has not yet issued a territory-wide “Red Alert,” customer service representatives are privately confirming to subscribers that the issue is twofold: a physical network instability reportedly originating near Fortuna on St. Thomas, and a catastrophic failure of the automated billing system that is erroneously flagging paid accounts as delinquent.

The “Auto-Pay” Trap Multiple residents in Frederiksted have reported identical experiences: despite being enrolled in auto-pay services—some for over six months—their service was abruptly severed this morning.

“I have the iPhone 16 Mega Pro and set up auto-pay specifically to avoid this,” said one Frederiksted resident who preferred to remain anonymous due to safety concerns. “Every month, the system fails to process the payment, and every month, they shut me off. It feels less like a technical error and more like incompetence.”

When reached via a borrowed line, a One Communications representative identified only as “Kia” admitted she was “looking into” why the automated system is systematically rejecting valid payments, but offered no timeline for a fix.

Fortuna Fallout The automated AI attendant for One Communications is currently citing an “outage in Fortuna, St. Thomas,” which appears to be having a cascading effect on connectivity across the channel in St. Croix. With WAPA struggles ongoing—including recent feeder fluctuations—the telecommunications infrastructure seems to be following suit, leaving residents vulnerable.

Safety Concerns Rise The outage is more than an inconvenience; it is a safety hazard. With cell towers down or accounts wrongly suspended, residents in remote areas like the West End are left unable to contact emergency services, property management, or family.

For now, unless Elon Musk decides to re-task a Starlink satellite to hover directly over Frederiksted Town, subscribers are left waiting for One Communications to untangle its wires—and its billing department.

By the Numbers: One Communications’ Market Footprint

The scale of the company’s influence in the territory is significant. Following its rebranding under parent company ATN International, One Communications has solidified its position as a dominant player in the Caribbean.