About 4,000 Bright House phone and data customers are affected by the outage

Tampa, Florida -- Contractors working for Verizon accidentally cut into a Bright House fiber line in New Tampa today, cutting service to some 4,000 Bright House customers.

The line provided telephone and Internet services for Freedom High School, Bonita Middle School, Florida Medical Clinics at Bridgehill and Amberly, and the 13th Judicial Circuit, according to spokesman Joe Durkin.

The outage occurred around 3 p.m. and was expected to be repaired by 8:30 p.m., Durkin said.