A cable interruption in a «fiber tub» on Bentonville Road in western Wayne County caused sporadic interruptions of long-distance telephone service around Wayne and Randolph counties Tuesday.

Some customers received a busy signal when trying to call long distance.

The interruption was apparently due to settling of soil in the area, Verizon manager Andy Digenova said.

Digenova said the number of customers affected was impossible to determine.

Service has been restored.

DENVER — Qwest began a 14-state ad campaign Sunday seeking to lure customers of AT&T’s long-distance service.

Last week AT&T announced it would stop seeking new residential customers, though it would continue to serve existing ones.

The ad campaign features a letter from Qwest CEO Richard Notebaert promising long-distance users that they can count of his company to keep its long-distance service «and continue to invest in our world-class network…»

Notebaert said, ’It’s kind of an open-ended letter. It is really addressed to customers who might have left Qwest to go to AT&T or other carriers."