Severe Weather events impact service in the Northern Tablelands District and parts of the Northern Rivers, Mid North Coast, North West Slopes and Plains Districts of New South Wales and part of the Darling Downs and Granite Belt District of Queensland.
As previously notified on Thursday 19 January 2017, normal operations in the Northern Tablelands District and parts of the Northern Rivers, Mid North Coast, North West Slopes and Plains Districts of New South Wales and part of the Darling Downs and Granite Belt District of Queensland were affected by a series of severe weather events on or about Thursday 12 January 2017 and Saturday 14 January 2017 through to Sunday 15 January 2017. The 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 services. Due to the extent of damage to the 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 12 March 2017.
Based on current information, the resumption date of normal service operations is expected to be 12 March 2017. This date is indicative only; 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.
Services encompassed in this exemption are in the area bounded by and including, but not limited to, the area starting at Patchs Beach following the NSW coast south past Evans Head to Woody Head then turning northwest to Pikapene. From Pikapene the area heads southwest to Ebor, southeast to South West Rocks and following the coastline past Port Macquarie to Crowdy Head. The area turns northwest past Comboyne to Yarrowitch, southwest to Nowendoc, west to Bowling Alley Point, southwest to Wallabadah and then northwest to Kapatur. The area then heads northeast to North Star, north to the NSW/QLD border and following the border easterly past Donaldson to Lions Rd. From Lions Rd the area turns southeast to Wadeville, south to Bungabbee, and northeast to Tullera then southeast back to Patchs Beach. 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:
02 5524 0000 To 02 5525 5999
02 6660 0000 To 02 6668 9999
02 5620 0000 To 02 5620 4999
02 6682 1000 To 02 6689 9999
02 5712 9000 To 02 5712 9999
02 6701 1000 To 02 6701 9999
02 6538 1000 To 02 6538 3999
02 6720 0000 To 02 6739 9999
02 6556 6000 To 02 6567 7999
02 6755 2000 To 02 6786 1999
02 6580 0000 To 02 6597 5999
07 4653 4000 To 07 4653 9999
02 6620 0000 To 02 6636 6999
07 4675 2000 To 07 4675 3999
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 16 January 2017 to 12 March 2017 inclusive (based on estimated recovery schedule correct at the time of publication of this notice).
