Severe Weather events impact service in the North East, North Central and Northern Country Districts of Victoria and part of the Riverina District of New South Wales.
UPDATE – 31/10/2016 – Please note, due to the extent of the damage, normal resumption of service is now expected to occur on November 20 2016
QTelecom is working to manage the significant impact to services that has occurred as a result of a series of severe weather events in the North East, North Central and Northern Country Districts of Victoria and part of the Riverina District of New South Wales on or about Saturday 1 October 2016 through to Tuesday 4 October 2016.
Due to the effect of damage to the telecommunications network by heavy rainfall, 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/. Damaging winds and heavy rainfall are referred to within this site for Saturday 1 October 2016 through to Tuesday 4 October 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 30 October 2016. 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 Mount Buller heading south to Aberfeldy then northwest to Mount Macedon. From Mount Macedon the area turns northeast past Nagambie, Dookie and Wilby crossing the VIC/NSW border to Brocklesby. The area heads southeast to Wymah, crossing the NSW/VIC border south to Eskdale then southwest back to Mount Buller. All suburbs and towns serviced by 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 6020 7000 To 02 6028 9999
03 5750 1000 To 03 5799 9999
02 6040 0000 To 02 6075 9999
03 5826 1000 To 03 5826 7999
03 5421 6000 To 03 5433 5999
03 5957 5000 To 03 5963 7999
03 5720 0000 To 03 5736 9999
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 4 October 2016 to 30 October 2016 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.
