NORTH AND WEST SYDNEY AND SURROUNDING DISTRICT

CUSTOMER SERVICE ADVICE FROM OPTUS

Delay due to severe weather in parts of Sydney Metropolitan and Hunter Districts of New South Wales.

The Sydney Metropolitan and Hunter Districts of New South Wales were impacted by severe weather on or about Sunday 25 February 2018 through to Monday 26 February 2018. This event resulted in extensive damage to the telecommunications network. An interruption to Optus normal operations has occurred leading to delays in installation and repair activities. As many as 1,305 of Optus services encompassed in this exemption are in the area bounded by and including, but not limited to, the area starting at Palm Beach following the coastline south past Dee Why to Freshwater. From Freshwater the area heads southeast to Dobroyd Head crossing north harbour south to Middle Head then follows Sydney Harbour past Taronga Zoo and Luna Park to Manns Point. The area then crosses the Parramatta River to Birkenhead Point and heads southeast to Ashbury, northeast to Strathfield, and north to Wentworth Point then southeast to Old Guildford. From Old Guildford the area heads northwest to Merrylands West, northeast to Camellia, north to Oatlands, then northwest to Seven Hills. The area turns northeast to Bella Vista, northwest past Marsden Park and Yarramundi to Berambing, then northeast to Womerah. From Womerah the area turns east to Upper MacDonald, southeast to Spencer, and south to Berowra Heights then northeast back to Palm Beach. All suburbs and towns serviced by Optus within these boundaries are encompassed in this exemption.

How will this affect you?

Unfortunately your service may be affected and we may take longer than normal to fix telephone services or complete connections. Services in the area mentioned above with phone numbers in the following number ranges may have been affected:

What else do you need to know?

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/. Heavy rainfall and flash flooding are referred to within this site for Sunday 25 February 2018 through to Monday 26 February 2018; all of which were widely reported in the news media after the events. Due to this event, we’re claiming an exemption under section 21 of the Telecommunications (Customer Service Guarantee) Standard 2011, including an exemption from the payment of compensation between 26 February 2018 to 25 March 2018 inclusive for any delays in fixing or connecting services, and the keeping of appointments relating to these activities in the impacted area.

Need more information?

If you have any questions regarding your eligibility for a CSG payment under this notice, or wish to have us reconsider whether the circumstances were a proper basis for claiming an exemption, you can contact Optus on 13 39 37– quoting CSG exemption reference number 26022018-NSW-E-C-P-NORTH AND WEST SYDNEY AND SURROUNDING DISTRICT_RUNL You can also view a copy of this notice on our Internet site www.optus.com.au/msd If, after calling Optus on the above number, you remain unsatisfied with our response to your query, you have the option of raising the matter with the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO). Information on the TIO and contact details are available on the Internet (www.tio.com.au) and in the White Pages® telephone directory.