Telstra has announced an assistance package for its residential and small business customers across Queensland who have been evacuated from their homes or whose phone services have been affected by Tropical Cyclone Yasi.
Telstra Corporate Affairs Manager for Queensland, Elouise Campion, said Telstra technicians continue to work to fully recover all communications services impacted by the Tropical Cyclone Yasi.
“We are working hard to restore services to affected areas of the state and have hundreds of technicians mobilised from across Australia to assist. Some areas are still unsafe to access but we are monitoring and will restore them as soon as possible.
Ms Campion encouraged customers to call Telstra on 13 22 03 to report a fault and register for the assistance package if their phone service had been affected by Tropical Cyclone Yasi.
“We also understand that some customers may experience financial hardship as a result of Tropical Cyclone Yasi. Telstra will offer extended payment arrangements for these customers if they call Telstra on 1800 816 025.
“We want all effected people to know that Telstra has a range of options to help them maintain connection to their telecommunications services through these difficult times.
Under Telstra’s assistance package, Telstra offers customers who report a temporary loss of their Telstra service due to natural disaster:
- Free call diversion from their fixed service to a fixed or mobile service of their choice;
- For Telstra customers who have diverted their fixed line phone to their Telstra mobile, mobile calls charged at home line rates as per their selected HomeLine plan for local and STD calls (limited to one designated Telstra mobile per affected household or business);
The package also includes:
- Cancellation of a Telstra fixed phone service at existing premises or business with free number re-direction for three months and number reservation to be provided up to 12 months;
- Free connection of a Telstra fixed phone service at one residence or business within a twelve-month period beginning from the date of the disaster;
- Cancellation of a BigPond® service at existing premises or business with free email address reservation to be provided for three months;
- Free reconnection of a BigPond® service at one residence or business within a twelve-month period beginning from the date of the disaster; and
- Telstra mobile customers who do not have a fixed line will receive a one off credit to the value of $50.00, limited to one mobile phone per household or business.
