After internet outage, NC DMV offices expected to reopen Wednesday morning

Thirty Division of Motor Vehicles offices in central and southeastern North Carolina were essentially shut down Tuesday after an internet cable was severed, but the agency says they should all reopen Wednesday morning.

Lumen Technologies, which provides local telephone service, reported the outage about 9:15 a.m. Tuesday, according to the DMV. Services at the affected offices remained unavailable the rest of the day, but Lumen was able to repair the cable by about 8:30 p.m., according to DMV.

The cable was severed between Raleigh and Benson. The outage affected 14 driver’s license offices from the Triangle south, including in Fuquay-Varina, Lillington, Sanford and Siler City.

Also down were 16 vehicle registration and license plate offices run by private contractors. They included offices in Smithfield, Dunn, Sanford and Siler City.

The DMV said it would attempt to contact customers to reschedule appointments at the driver’s license offices, though the agency’s customer call center in Bladen County was also affected by the outage.

The agency was urging people to see if they can complete their business online. Several services, such as driver license and vehicle registration renewals, vehicle tax payments and address changes, can be completed at www.ncdot.gov/DMV/.

The DMV has 115 driver’s license offices and 114 registration and plate offices statewide.