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 severe weather events in parts of the Southern Tablelands, Central Tablelands and Illawarra Districts of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory on or about Thursday 21 January 2016.
Due to the effect of damage to the Telstra telecommunications network by severe thunderstorms, 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). Large hailstones, heavy rainfall and damaging wind are referred to in the BOM Severe Weather Warning issued for 21 January 2016 initially at 3:25 pm Thursday, 21 January 2016, reference number IDN65156; 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 2,350 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 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 Appin heading southwest to Upper Kangaroo Valley then west to Bundanoon. The area turns southwest to Nerriga and continues heading southwest past Braidwood and Jerangle to Bunyan. The area then turns northwest to Batlow, north to Coolac and northeast past Jugiong and Boorowa to Bigga. From Bigga the area heads east to Cobbitty then southeast back to Appin. All suburbs and towns 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 4629 4500 To 02 4659 9999
02 4677 0000 To 02 4684 9999
02 4820 0000 To 02 4849 4999
02 4860 1000 To 02 4889 9999
02 6118 1000 To 02 6143 2999
02 6200 6000 To 02 6298 7999
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
