Dear Valued Customers,
The purpose of this announcement is to notify you of a CSG exemption being claimed by Telstra as a of a series of extreme weather events in the North West Coast, Central North, North East, Central Plateau, Midlands, East Coast, Upper Derwent Valley and Southeast Districts and part of the Western District of Tasmania on or about Friday 29 January 2016.
Due to the effect of damage to the Telstra telecommunications network by a complex low pressure system, there has been a significant increase in the number of Telstra services being reported as faulty. As a result, there has been some disruption to service and delays to normal installation and repair activities.
QTelecom apologises to any affected customers.
Information as to the nature of these extreme weather events can be sourced from the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM). Heavy rainfall and flash flooding is referred to in the BOM Severe Weather Warning issued for 29 January
2016 initially at 5:04 am EDT on Friday 29 January 2016, reference number IDT28100; all of which were widely reported in the news media after the events.
Telstra has identified that the effect of these circumstances may apply to approximately 1,800 services. Some of these services may not be installed or repaired within Telstra’s standard time frames. The number of possibly affected services may increase or decrease as Telstra assesses the full effect of the extreme weather conditions. Based on current information, the resumption date of Telstra’s normal service operations is expected to be 21 February 2016. This date is indicative only, however, and may be subject to change once the full impact of the extreme weather conditions has been assessed. Telstra regrets any inconvenience caused to customers and thanks them for their patience while this work is being undertaken.
QTelecom services encompassed in this exemption are in the area bounded by and including, but not limited to, the area starting at Ansons Bay on the east coast of Tasmania following the coastline clockwise around Southern Tasmania to South Cape. From South Cape the area heads north past Ouse to Waddamana then west to Derwent Bridge. The area then heads northwest to Trial Harbour and follows the coastline clockwise back to Ansons Bay. All suburbs and towns, off shore islands and coastal areas serviced by Telstra within these boundaries are encompassed in this exemption. Services in the area mentioned above with phone numbers in the following number ranges may have been affected:
03 6208 0000 To 03 6298 9999
03 6323 0000 To 03 6399 3999
03 6420 2000 To 03 6458 9999
03 6471 5000 To 03 6473 9999
03 6490 0000 To 03 6498 9999
As these circumstances were outside of QTelecom’s control, QTelecom is claiming an exemption from compliance with time frames and performance standards required under the Telecommunications (Customer Service Guarantee) Standard 2011.
Therefore we are notifying customers that normal installation and repair time frames may not be met during the period from 7 January 2016 to 7 February 2016 inclusive (based on Telstra’s estimated recovery schedule correct at the time of publication of this notice) and, under section 21 of the Telecommunications (Customer Service Guarantee) Standard 2011, QTelecom will be exempt from complying with performance standards during this period.
We apologise for the inconvenience.
With thanks,
QTelecom Customer Care Team
