Bermuda CableVision is appealing to customers to be patient as it continues with a "systematic approach" to restoring service after Hurricane Fabian.

In a Press statement issued yesterday, the company said that repairs to its system's fibre optic backbone were completed last week and street-by-street checks to repair the rest of the system had been completed in Paget, Pembroke, St. George's and much of Hamilton Parish.

"This does not mean that 100 percent of our customers in these areas now have service," the statement said.

"Customers living in parishes where we have completed our street-by-street checks and who are still without service while their neighbours do have service, should call our offices."

CableVision crews are working in Devonshire and Smith's and hope to move on to Southampton and Sandys late this week or early next week, the statement continued.

"We also thank customers for their understanding if our timing is sometimes inexact. We continue to find damage in some areas that we could not identify until we were on the spot, and that may cause us to slow down in certain instances," operations manager Alan Smith said.

The company apologised to its customers for difficulties in reaching them by telephone saying it was handling "thousands" of calls a day.

"Please understand also that by automating certain messages, while impersonal, we are able to assist a larger volume of customers. We will continue updating customers by posting regular messages to our phone system, our website (www.cablevision.bm) and the media. In the meantime, until we have done the complete street-by-street repairs in an area, we ask customers to please be patient, do not call, and know that our crews will be coming your way as soon as possible."

The statement added that because a CableVision truck may be in an area, that did not necessarily mean that service restoration was imminent as the company's network consisted of four parts.

"If your drop line is OK, there may still be a problem in the trunk or distribution lines. Or if your distribution line is fine, there may still be a problem with the drop. This is why we must take a systematic approach."

The company said it had given "blanket credits" to customers' October statements as a result of service interruption and customers requesting more should wait until their service was back on.

Refund requests will be handled on a case by case basis.