HAMPDEN/ETNA - Some Hampden and Etna residents experienced phone trouble throughout much of the day Wednesday.

The majority of the 3,700 TDS Telecom customers in the two towns were without phone service from 8:15 Wednesday morning until early Wednesday afternoon. Workers traced the issue to a hardware malfunction at the company’s facility in North Anson. The problem only affected phone lines; DSL service was not interrupted, though dial-up modems were not working. Crews were able to have the malfunction repaired by 2:00 Wednesday afternoon.