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 Illawarra and South
Coast 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 rain 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
3,700 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 Port Hacking on the coast, following
the coastline south past Wollongong, Jervis Bay and Batemans Bay to Kianga. From
Kianga the area turns west to Belowra and then north past Araluen and Nerriga
to Tallong. From here, turn northeast to Robertson, north to Cobbitty, northwest to
Warragamba and north to Glenbrook. From Glenbrook the area heads southeast past
Wetherill Park back to Port Hacking. All suburbs, 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 4220 2000 To 02 4239 7999
02 4251 5000 To 02 4283 9199
02 4295 0000 To 02 4297 9999
02 4412 3000 To 02 4412 3999
02 4428 0000 To 02 4429 9999
02 4441 0000 To 02 4479 9999
02 4621 0000 To 02 4658 7999
02 4720 0000 To 02 4720 0999
02 4773 0000 To 02 4774 9999
02 8738 0000 To 02 8738 9999
02 8777 0000 To 02 8796 9999
02 9203 3000 To 02 9203 9999
02 9426 0000 To 02 9426 8999
02 9600 0000 To 02 9618 9999
02 9729 5000 To 02 9734 9999
02 9753 6000 To 02 9753 8999
02 9765 0000 To 02 9765 9999
02 9820 0000 To 02 9829 9999
02 9914 0000 To 02 9914 1899
02 9933 3000 To 02 9933 5999
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
