Severe Weather events impact service in parts of the Central, North Central and West and South Gippsland Districts of Victoria.
Update 07/11/2016 – Due to the extent of the disruption being greater than originally thought, resumption of normal operations is now not expected until November 27 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 parts of the Central, North Central and West and South Gippsland Districts of Victoria on or about Sunday 9 October 2016.
Due to the effect of damage to the telecommunications network by damaging winds, 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 Bureau of Meteorology (BOM). Damaging winds are referred to in the BOM Severe Weather Warning issued for 9 October 2016 initially at 5:04 am Sunday, 9 October 2016, reference number IDV20032; 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 6 November 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. 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 is not limited to, the area starting at King Lake heading southeast to Warburton, south past Tonimbuk to Modella then southwest to Warneet. From Warneet the area turns northwest to Wheelers Hill then northeast back to King Lake. All suburbs and towns 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:
03 5624 9100 To 03 5629 2999
03 9264 2000 To 03 9264 2199
03 5942 3000 To 03 5969 9999
03 9293 0000 To 03 9294 9499
03 5990 0700 To 03 5998 9999
03 9554 0800 To 03 9554 9599
03 8720 0000 To 03 8727 9999
03 9700 0000 To 03 9709 8999
03 8739 0000 To 03 8739 9999
03 9720 0000 To 03 9739 9999
03 8756 1000 To 03 8796 9999
03 9751 0000 To 03 9768 8999
03 9212 1200 To 03 9215 8999
03 9790 0000 To 03 9799 9999
03 9237 1300 To 03 9238 9399
03 9839 2200 To 03 9839 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 10 October 2016 to 6 November 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.
