MSD - 14122018 - VIC SCP Northern Victoria and Riverina RUNL

CUSTOMER SERVICE ADVICE FROM OPTUS

Delay due to severe weather in the North East District and parts of the North Central and Northern Country Districts of Victoria and parts of the Riverina, Central West Slopes and Plains, and South West Slopes Districts of New South Wales.

The North East District and parts of the North Central and Northern Country Districts of Victoria and parts of the Riverina, Central West Slopes and Plains, and South West Slopes Districts of New South Wales were impacted by severe weather on or about Thursday 13 December 2018 through to Saturday 15 December 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 405 Optus services are impacted in the area bounded by and including, but not limited to, the area starting at Dartmouth heading south to Anglers Rest, southwest to Woods Point, west to Narbethong, northwest to Carlsruhe then north to Elmore. From Elmore the area heads northwest past Gunbower to the VIC/NSW border and turns northeast to Tantonan, east to Bullatale, then northeast to Urana. The area turns southeast to Bidgeemia, northeast to Barmedman, then east to Bribbaree. From Bribbaree the area heads east to Reids Flat, southwest to Burrinjuck, south to Yarrangobilly, southwest crossing the NSW/VIC border to Burrowye then south back to Dartmouth. 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:

We anticipate that the majority of services will be restored by 13 January 2019. 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 Early Warning Network at http://www.ewn.com.au/alerts/. Heavy rainfall and flash flooding are referred to within this site for Thursday 13 December 2018 through to Saturday 15 December 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 14 December 2018 to 13 January 2019 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 14122018-VICS-C-P-NORTHERN VICTORIA AND RIVERINA_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.