South Island earthquake – 4.45pm 10-09-10

South Island earthquake – 4.45pm, Friday 10 September

Telecom’s fixed and mobile services continue to stand up well in Christchurch and Canterbury. 111 services are fully available and fixed line infrastructure is performing well, as are both Telecom mobile networks.

Chorus is making good progress repairing earthquake-related faults. Over 60 damaged cables have been repaired, reconnecting hundreds of customers, and well over 1000 faults affecting individual homes and businesses have been fixed since the major earthquake on 4 September.

Residents who are still be experiencing service disruptions should contact their telecommunications service provider and report their fault so a technician can be sent out to assess damage.

Chorus’ network monitoring systems indicate a number of faults affecting phone and internet services in the city centre, but it has not been able to start work to assess or repair those faults because of safety concerns and Civil Defence restrictions.

Repair work in the CBD will also be affected by the high number of buildings which have failed the initial Civil Defence assessment and need to be assessed by a structural engineer before they can be entered.

Telecom has made payphones in and around Christchurch free for local, national and mobile calls.

Telecom WiFi hotspots across Christchurch are also free, enabling people without internet access to use free wireless broadband and Telecom is also providing free call diverts for its retail customers who are unable to use their home phones.

Telecom staff will start returning to their offices in central Christchurch from this weekend.

Further updates will be provided as relevant.

ENDS