The AT&T phone problem that affected Maryland Lottery machines and some long-distance customers on Monday was resolved around 3:30 a.m. Tuesday, AT&T spokesman Dave Johnson said.
The problem, which shut down 329 lottery machines in Washington County for most of Monday, was caused when snow melted and froze on an AT&T microwave tower outside Hagerstown, Johnson said.
Callers experiencing problems encountered a fast busy signal or a recording saying all circuits were busy and to try later, Johnson said.
The problem started around 10 a.m. Monday.
Maryland Lottery machines were fixed by 11:45 p.m. Monday, lottery spokesman Brian Johnson said.
Curtis Berry, technology vice president for Jamison Door Co., said the company's phone lines went down for 24 hours until 10 a.m. Tuesday. Cellular phones were brought in to communicate with customers, he said.
Berry said the company uses an AT&T T1 line for its phone service.
Dave Johnson said the door company may lease a T1 line from AT&T, but any problem with the T1 line was unrelated to the microwave tower.
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