GREENVILLE, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - A fiber internet service company already facing criticism is once again digging up issues in the Upstate.
Lumos, a T-Mobile partner, began construction in the Greer Covington subdivision last week. Although neighbors received door flyers, many say they were shocked by the extent of digging.
“It’s pretty devastating to see yards like this,” one resident said.
“It’s like they don’t even care. They’re leaving the place a mess,” another resident added. “They’ve done a lot of damage on the plot, and I don’t know how that’s gonna be rectified.”
Neighbors say they’ve never seen disruptive construction in their subdivision.
“Even AT&T, when they came in, they didn’t disturb like this at all,” a resident noted.
According to SC811 ‘Call Before You Dig,’ some of the mark-out colors, used to indicate the type of utility line underground, were also incorrectly labeled. A field representative pointed out lines around an electric transformer box surrounded by white lines. White designates a possible excavation site, but red should have been used for electric lines.
Hitting an incorrect utility line could have serious consequences.
“I noticed that the water pressure had actually been going down all weekend,” resident Tom Sonn said.
Sonn eventually called his water company, which discovered a ruptured water line.
“Nobody told me about the broken pipe,” Sonn said. “Nobody telling me is what upsets me.”
Some homes temporarily lost power and internet, neighbors added.
This isn’t the first time Lumos has faced backlash. In November 2023, the City of Columbia paused all Lumos projects after a string of gas leaks. Less than a year later, subcontractors struck a water main line, causing a sinkhole. And in April 2025, some Spartanburg County residents sued Lumos, alleging they ruptured a sewer line that caused raw sewage to leak into homes.
Door flyers in Greer stated that Lumos would clean the mess.
“I hope they do,” a resident said. “It seems impossible at the moment but you never know.”
FOX Carolina reached out to Lumos, T-Mobile and county officials. T-Mobile responded and said they are looking into the situation.
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