Optus today confirmed its support for the victims of the Canberra bushfires and extends its sympathy to all those who have been affected.

As part of its support, Optus will be providing the following:

• All Optus local call customers in Canberra who have lost their homes as a result of the fires will be provided with a prepaid start-up kit and mobile phone;
• All affected local call customers will be able to access free call diversion to a fixed or mobile number;
• Local call customers will receive credited line rental charges for the entire period their service is unavailable;
• Any dial-up internet customers impacted by the bushfires and unable to use their internet service can call OptusNet Customer Service and Optus will migrate them onto a casual usage plan which will only charge them for actual usage;
• No monthly access fees will be incurred by Optus dial-up internet customers until they are ready to come back on board;
• Optus have supplied prepaid mobile phones and thousands of dollars worth of recharge cards to the NSW Rural Fire Service to be distributed to firefighters and affected families as appropriate;
• State-of-the-art satellite phones have been supplied to emergency crews coming from interstate to help in Canberra. These phones are capable of working outside the network areas ensuring crews are connected at all times;
• Optus has also supplied VSAT trailers (portable satellite dishes allowing access to voice and data services via mobile satellite phones) to crews battling the fires in northern Victoria; and
• Optus will be working closely with Telstra, our wholesale provider, to ensure all customers' needs are met.

Optus will continue to assess the fire situations to see what else it can do to assist in the coming days.

Optus customer service numbers are:

For Optus Mobile: 1300 300 937
For Optus internet: 1800 550 124

For more information:
Stephen Woodhill
Optus Corporate Affairs
Tel: (02) 9342 7850