MSD - Hunter and Surrounding District - 22 October 2018

CUSTOMER SERVICE ADVICE FROM OPTUS

Delay due to severe weather events in the Hunter District and parts of the Central Tablelands and Sydney Metropolitan Districts of New South Wales.

The Hunter District and parts of the Central Tablelands and Sydney Metropolitan Districts of New South Wales were impacted by severe weather on or about Saturday 20 October 2018.

An interruption to Optus normal operations has occurred leading to delays in installation and repair activities. As many as 540 Optus services are impacted in the area bounded by and including, but not limited to, the area starting at Crowdy Head following the NSW coast southwest past Forster, Newcastle and Gosford to Patonga. From Patonga the area continues southwest to Mount Colah, northwest to Galston, west past Londonderry to Blackheath then northeast to Mellong. The area turns northwest to Kelgoola, north to Coulsons Creek, northeast to Glenrock, and east to Elands then southeast back to Crowdy Head. All suburbs and towns, off shore islands and coastal areas 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:

We anticipate the majority of services will be restored by 11 November 2018. We're sorry for any inconvenience this delay may cause but we can assure you we are working hard to get things back on track.

What else do you need to know?
Information as to the nature of these severe weather events can be sourced from the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM). Heavy rainfall are referred to in the BOM Severe Weather Warning issued for 20 October 2018 initially at 5:51 pm Saturday, 20 October 2018, reference number IDN21035; 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 22 October 2018 to 11 November 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 22102018-NSW-E-C-P-HUNTER 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.