Dear Valued Customers,
The purpose of this announcement is to notify you of a CSG exemption being claimed by Telstra as a result of a series of severe weather events in the Hunter and Central Tablelands districts of New South Wales on or about Monday 4 January 2016 through to Wednesday 6 January 2016.
Due to the effect of damage to the Telstra telecommunications network by severe weather, 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 severe weather events can be sourced from the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM). Heavy rainfall and flash flooding are referred to in the BOM Severe Weather Warning issued for 4 January 2016 initially at 11:01 am Monday, 4 January 2016, reference number IDN20032; 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 7,400 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 severe weather conditions. Based on current information, the resumption date of Telstra’s normal service operations is expected to be 14 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.
Telstra services encompassed in this exemption are in the area bounded by and including, but is not limited to, the area starting at Crowdy Head then following the NSW coast southwest past Forster, Nelson Bay, Newcastle, The Entrance to Patonga. From Patonga the area heads southwest to Galston, west to Londonderry, northwest past Mt Wilson to Glen Davis then north to Coulsons Creek. From Coulsons Creek the area heads northeast past Ellerston to Elands then southeast back to Crowdy Head. 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:
02 4014 0500 To 02 4015 9999
02 4028 1000 To 02 4042 1999
02 4320 0000 To 02 4399 8199
02 4560 0000 To 02 4588 9999
02 4902 0000 To 02 4999 9999
02 5556 0000 To 02 5556 4999
02 5594 5000 To 02 5594 5999
02 6520 1000 To 02 6526 9999
02 6537 0000 To 02 6559 3999
02 6570 2100 To 02 6579 7999
02 6591 3900 To 02 6591 7999
02 9456 0000 To 02 9457 9999
02 9472 8000 To 02 9480 0999
02 9652 0000 To 02 9658 8999
02 9847 1000 To 02 9847 1999
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
