Mississippi Public Service Commissioner Mike Callahan said Wednesday that he wants hearings into BellSouth’s handling of repairs after Hurricane Katrina.

“I don’t want to do anything right now that will further delay restoring phone service to the 8,000 customers who remain without service in the Pine Belt area,” Callahan told the Hattiesburg American. “But when this is over I have questions for the telephone company.”

“I am frustrated for the dozens of people who call my office wanting help with getting their service restored,” Callahan said.

A statement from BellSouth released Wednesday says, “BellSouth welcomes any opportunity to share our story and explain the enormity of the damage our network sustained and the steps we’ve taken to restore service as efficiently and effectively as possible.”

Callahan says BellSouth told him it would be at least Nov. 7 before all customers have service in Lumberton, Purvis, Hattiesburg West, Sumrall, Laurel, Waynesboro, Heidelburg, Shubuta, Quitman and Ellisville.

BellSouth damage assessment reports obtained by Phone Watch show that as of Thursday, 4,500 poles had been downed in the area, along with nearly 3,900 individual subscriber drop wires and 12,700 spans of network cable.

Callahan said he was assured by BellSouth officials that if Hurricane Wilma strikes Florida, extra crews will not be removed from Mississippi.

“We lost help when Hurricane Rita hit Texas,” he said. “People on their way to Mississippi were diverted. I was told that will not happen regardless of what Wilma does.”

However, the company said in another Wednesday statement that, “As [Hurricane Wilma] approaches, personnel and equipment have been staged in strategic areas around the state and will be deployed as needed.”

“BellSouth can call upon loaned technicians from other states and telecommunications companies in the event assistance is needed during the [Wilma] recovery process,” according to the statement.

Across the entire region, BellSouth estimates over 182,000 customer lines remain without service. Many of these are within ten central offices in the greater New Orleans area which have not yet been restored to service.

BellSouth is assessing the damage to these offices and network cables in the area, “and other facilities which may require refurbishment, decontamination and/or complete replacement,” said Bill Oliver, president of BellSouth’s Louisiana operations.

BellSouth’s overall recovery effort is managed from its emergency operations center in Baton Rouge, La.