Tele-Savers, a Lawrence-based telephone company, was left in disarray Tuesday after Southwestern Bell denied access to its local network because the company had fallen behind in its payments.

The situation left an unknown number of Tele-Savers customers in Lawrence without phone service Tuesday. Tom Behner, deputy chief of telecommunications for the Kansas Corporation Commission, said his office had received phone calls from about 10 Lawrence residents and businesses complaining that their phone service unexpectedly was cut off.

Nancy Pollack, a representative with Southwestern Bell, confirmed some Tele-Savers customers were disconnected Tuesday but said she could not comment on an exact number.

Pollack said the disconnections were made because Tele-Savers had fallen behind in payments to Southwestern Bell for use of infrastructure in Lawrence. Tele-Savers provides service to its customer by essentially tapping into Southwestern Bell’s local network and reselling the service, a practice made legal under the 1996 Telecommunications Act.

Pollack declined to comment on how much Southwestern Bell was owed by Tele-Savers. She said Tele-Savers customers were notified that changes would occur to their service; three separate letters were sent out to Tele-Savers customers beginning in February notifying them that Tele-Savers would not be able to continue as their phone company.

Customers were sent a list of other phone companies that could provide service and told to choose one before this week.

Attempts to reach Tele-Savers officials for comment were unsuccessful. A Tele-Savers employee who answered the phone at the Lawrence office referred calls to a Kansas City, Mo., office of Ionex Telecommunications.

Russell Morgan, vice president of products and marketing for Ionex, said his company had reached an agreement to provide service to Tele-Savers customers after the company approached Ionex in late January expressing a desire to get out of the telephone business in Lawrence.

Morgan said Ionex had added about 500 Tele-Savers customers to its customer base. Morgan said the customers who were disconnected had not chosen Ionex to be their new service provider, but the company did work with about 10 customers Tuesday to have their service restored.

Ionex, like Tele-Savers, focuses on providing service to businesses.