Dear Valued Customers,

Due to the effect of a series of severe weather events which have caused damage to the Telstra telecommunications network throughout widespread areas of New South Wales, there has been a significant increase in the number of QTelecom services being reported as faulty in those regions. Due to the extent and severity of these ongoing extreme weather events, Telstra is redeploying a large number of staff from across parts of the southeast Brisbane area to the affected regions. As a result, there will be delays to normal installation and repair activities in parts of the
Brisbane area as staff from this region are redeployed.

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). Destructive winds, heavy rainfall and abnormally high tides are referred to in the BOM Severe Weather warning issues for 4 June initially at 4.23pm Saturday 4 June 2016, reference number IDN20032; all of which were widely reported by most of the news media.

Telstra has identified that the effect of these circumstances may apply to approximately 650 services in parts of the southeast Brisbane area. Some of these services may not be installed or repaired within QTelecom’s standard time frames. The number of possibly affected services may increase or decrease as Telstra assesses the full effect of the extreme weather conditions.

Based on current information, the resumption date of QTelecom’s normal service operations is expected to be 10 July 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.

QTelecom services encompassed in this exemption are in the area bounded by and including, but are not limited to, the area starting at Thorneside following the coastline south past Cleveland to Logan River. From Logan River the area heads northwest past California Creek and Loganlea to Berrinba, northeast to Eight Mile Plains, northwest to Holland Park then northeast back to Thorneside. All suburbs and towns, off shore islands and coastal areas 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:

07 3131 1000 To 07 3131 9999
07 3206 0000 To 07 3212 0599
07 3239 5500 To 07 3248 6999
07 3286 0000 To 07 3297 2199
07 3347 1100 To 07 3407 8699
07 3440 0000 To 07 3451 9999
07 3479 0000 To 07 3489 2099
07 3620 6500 To 07 3634 4399
07 3801 0000 To 07 3843 8999
07 3884 3000 To 07 3917 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 17 June 2016 to the 10 July 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, Telstra will be exempt from complying with performance standards during this period.

We apologise for the inconvenience.

With thanks,

QTelecom Customer Care Team

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