Telstra mops up Melbourne storm damage

Telstra today was still repairing services for some customers after storms doubled the number of faults reported in the Melbourne metropolitan area.

A Telstra spokesperson told CRN that the telco would normally receive about 1,000 faults reported on an average day in the Melbourne metropolitan area. This doubled to more than 2,000 following Wednesday's storms, he said.

'That's a significant impact on the network, so we immediately engaged extra technicians to fix the interrupted services,' the spokesperson said. 'As of this afternoon we are still reaching resolution for some services, but a number have been restored already.'

Telstra has also put in place a relief package for residential and small business customers whose phone services were impacted by the storm on Wednesday. It included free call diversion from fixed line phones to another fixed or mobile phone, while that customer's service was being repaired.

Faults after Wednesday's storm varied from interruptions to fixed-line phones, to water seeping into pits, to a mobile base station being flooded, according to the spokesperson.

'This is a rare event that's impacted the network, and [Telstra is] working to ensure customers receive the best possible service,' he said.