Dear Valued Customers,
As previously notified by QTelecom on Saturday 6 February 2016, QTelecom’s normal operations in part of the Southeast Coast District of Queensland and part of the Northern Rivers District of New South Wales were affected by a series of severe weather events on or about Friday 29 January 2016 through to Saturday 30 January 2016. QTelecom’s telecommunications network in these areas have experienced high levels of damage that resulted in delays to installation and repair activities on a significant number of QTelecom services. Due to the extent of damage to the QTelecom network, the impact in the affected region has been greater than initially estimated, and as a consequence of the continued weather effects, the expected recovery date has now been extended to 27 March 2016.
QTelecom has identified that the effect of these circumstances applies to an additional 2,100 services bringing the total number of services impacted to approximately 6,600 services. This number may increase as QTelecom assesses the full affect of the severe weather conditions. Based on current information, the resumption date of normal service operations is expected to be 27 March 2016. This date is indicative only; QTelecom customers should anticipate that some further delays may occur.
QTelecom 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 is not limited to, the area starting at Labrador in Queensland and following the coastline south past Broad Beach crossing the NSW border past Tweed Heads and Byron Bay to East Wardell. From East Wardell the area turns northwest to The Risk then heads northeast crossing the NSW/QLD border to Maudsland and east back to Labrador. All suburbs and towns, off shore islands and coastal areas serviced by QTelecom 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 5620 0000 To 02 5620 4999 07 5644 2000 To 07 5644 6999
02 6618 0000 To 02 6639 9399 07 5656 0000 To 07 5665 5999
02 6660 0000 To 02 6688 4999 07 5689 1000 To 07 5689 1999
07 5500 1000 To 07 5599 9999
As these circumstances were outside of QTelecom’s control, QTelecom is claiming an extension to time frames applying under the Telecommunications (Customer Service Guarantee) Standard 2011. This means that QTelecom is notifying customers that normal service time frames may not be met during the period of 1 February 2016 to 27 March 2016 inclusive (based on QTelecom’s estimated recovery schedule correct at the time of publication of this notice).
We apologise for the inconvenience.
With thanks,
QTelecom Customer Care Team
