With the Verizon strike resolved and more than 35,000 telephone workers back on the job, Verizon representatives said students can expect their phone service back within the next two weeks.

"We see a light at the end of the tunnel; the majority (of customers) should have their service up and running in two or two and a half weeks," said Shannon Fioravanti, director of media relations for the company.

Verizon Communications and its three remaining bargaining units reached an agreement late Wednesday night, which ended in a three-year contract covering workers in the Mid-Atlantic region, including Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. While the contracts still need to be ratified by union members, about 70 percent of Verizon's union employees returned to work Thursday, Fioravanti said.

"We should be at full strength by Monday," she added.

Because of the strike, there is a backlog of service calls from New Jersey to Virginia, Fioravanti said. These customers will be taken care of first, as well as the 24,000 Verizon customers who are still without telephone service.

"These people are our main priority right now and they will be followed by new connection orders," she said.

The most important thing for Verizon customers to know at this time is, provided they have already placed an order, the company is aware of their request.

"There's no need to call back; we'll call you and make arrangements to come out," Fioravanti said.

The orders will be serviced in the order they were taken, which could mean phone service for early birds in the next three to five days, Fioravanti said.

However, for people who phoned in service requests most recently, orders could take up to three or four weeks to be completed.

Individual circumstance will also dictate how quickly a customer's connection will be up and running, Fioravanti said.

"If you've got wire and jacks already, you're service can be turned on from a central location much quicker and easier," she said.

Students anxious for phone service that does not require a two-week wait or a cell phone purchase might try working through a smaller phone service company.

CEI Networks, a company which provides local service for State College residents, also holds a contract with Verizon which states Verizon is obligated to make their company one of its foremost priorities at this time, said Michael Hoffman, customer service representative for CEI Networks.

Because CEI is a corporation and bundles all their orders for Verizon together, Hoffman said it is likely CEI can answer student orders faster than if students worked with Verizon directly.

"We are saying three to five days for service through (CEI)," Hoffman said.

CEI Networks has been signing students for their services throughout the past week, said Hank Stringer, vice president of communications sales.

"We're dependent on Verizon in that we manage, process and implement requests for them," Stringer said.

However, service from CEI varies depending on the apartment building, Stringer said, as some complexes have uniform service throughout their building.