equipment.

Long distance calls and Internet use was affected by the problem, which hit sometime between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Thursday.

Cable and Wireless spokesman John Instone said a lightning strike hit their Devonshire teleport, causing a small amount of disruption -- particularly to calls to Europe.

"Our systems are such that calls were immediately re-routed automatically and it is doubtful that many customers would have noticed,'' he said.

"It is possible that some Internet and Telex users would also have noticed a problem.'' Mr. Instone said technicians are on duty 24-hours-a-day at their International Network Operations Centre to rectify any problems and restore service.

Local Internet users were not affected by the strike but North Rock Communications said long distance calls and International Internet clients were off the air for around two hours.