Severe Weather events impact service in the Adelaide Metropolitan, Mount Lofty Ranges, Mid North and Yorke Peninsula Districts and parts of the Lower Eyre Peninsula, Eastern Eyre Peninsula, North West Pastoral, and Flinders Districts of South Australia.

AS the result of a series of severe weather events in the Adelaide Metropolitan, Mount Lofty Ranges, Mid North and Yorke Peninsula Districts and parts of the Lower Eyre Peninsula, Eastern Eyre Peninsula, North West Pastoral, and Flinders Districts of South Australia on or about Tuesday 27 December 2016 through to Wednesday 28 December 2016, there has been a significant impact to telecommunications infrastructure.

Due to the effect of damage to the telecommunications network by severe thunderstorms, there has been a significant increase in the number of 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 Early Warning Network at http://www.ewn.com.au/alerts/. Large Hail, heavy rain and destructive winds are referred to within this site for Tuesday 27 December 2016 through to Wednesday 28 December 2016; all of which were widely reported in the news media after the events.

Based on current information, the resumption date of normal service operations is expected to be 5 February 2017. This date is indicative only, however, and may be subject to change once the full impact of the severe weather conditions has been assessed. QTelecom regrets any inconvenience caused to customers and thanks them for their patience while this work is being undertaken.

Services encompassed in this exemption are in the area bounded by and including, but not limited to, the area starting at Point Drummond heading northeast past Yalanda to Yarrah. From Yarrah the area turns southeast to Peterborough, southwest to Canowie Belt, and southeast to Bower then southwest to Wasleys. The area turns southeast to Cambrai, southwest to Callington, southeast to Wellington then south past Meningie to the coast. The area follows the coastline past Victor Harbor, Adelaide, around Yorke Peninsula past Port Pirie, Port Augusta and Port Lincoln back to Point Drummond. All suburbs and towns, off shore islands and coastal areas serviced 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:

08 7285 0000 To 08 7285 8999

08 8550 0000 To 08 8568 5999

08 7383 0000 To 08 7389 9999

08 8581 1000 To 08 8581 8999

08 7522 4000 To 08 7522 4999

08 8598 1000 To 08 8598 8999

08 8100 0700 To 08 8116 6499

08 8621 1000 To 08 8688 3999

08 8130 0000 To 08 8139 9999

08 8821 0000 To 08 8867 9999

08 8150 1600 To 08 8449 9999

08 8890 0000 To 08 8894 9999

08 8520 0000 To 08 8536 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 QTelecom is notifying customers that normal installation and repair time frames may not be met during the period from 27 December 2016 to 5 February 2017 inclusive (based on 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.

Comments are closed.