GREEN BAY (NBC26) — Cellcom customers across Northeast Wisconsin are finding ways to cope with an ongoing network disruption that has now stretched into its fifth day.
The outage has left many customers without reliable service, forcing some to seek alternatives while others are finding temporary workarounds to maintain limited connectivity.
Karen Diemer, who lives in the Green Bay area, has decided to switch providers due to the disruption.
"I need a phone that I can depend on," Diemer said.
Diemer has two sons, both disabled and living in the Milwaukee area, making reliable communication essential for her.
"When things happen, you do what you have to do," Diemer said. "For people who are in charge of my sons, they have to be able to contact me and I have to be able to contact them."
While some customers are leaving, others are choosing to remain with the local provider despite the challenges.
"I don't want to change my number because otherwise my customers won't number my number," said Dale Rithe, whose business, Dale's Back to Black Sealcoating, has been impacted by the outage.
As the disruption continues, some customers have discovered temporary solutions.
Cellcom staff have advised users to either restart their phones or briefly activate airplane mode.
This workaround has allowed some customers to make calls to other Cellcom users, though calls to different networks remain problematic.
Jeremy Stroik, another Cellcom customer, believes in showing grace to the company during this difficult time.
"I understand even to the point you get angry about it," Stroik said.
Stroik has taken his support a step further by bringing donuts to staff members at Oshkosh and Appleton Cellcom shops.
"I've been shown grace, not just by my faith, but from other customers, family members, friends, my wife, my kids," Stroik said. "For me to believe that I can't pay it forwards and extend some (grace) to Cellcom, I'd be a fool if that's what I thought," Stroik said.
"I just gave them donuts. I think we ought to treat them with the same dignity and respect like any human being on the planet," Stroik said.
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