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Telstra mobile outage: Kotupna locals unable to call triple zero while firebug on loose
A firebug was on the loose in Kotupna on Tuesday night but locals could not reach emergency services on their mobiles due to a week-long Telstra outage.
While landlines were not affected, the 3G and 4G services in Kotupna, Undera and Wyuna were out for eight days after an "issue" impacted the Kotupna site.
Telstra became aware of the outage on March 4, with crews finally fixing the "complex" issue on Thursday.
But frustrations turned to fear on Tuesday night when suspicious fires were lit in Kotupna, putting residents at risk.
“People couldn't call the emergency services on their mobiles. Even the local police officer tried and couldn't get through to anyone,” Kotupna resident Deb Fowler said.
“Luckily the fires were out in the open, so people saw them and put them out before they became serious.
“But what if the fires had been in a less-open area?”
Ms Fowler said the outages had also left many locals isolated.
“There's one elderly lady in the area, she's 81 and her husband has only recently passed away,” she said.
“She can't text or make calls on her mobile, so we've all been checking on her regularly to make sure she's okay.”
Locals claimed Telstra had done little to keep them informed.
“They haven't been in contact with us at all. I was on the phone to them for ages today and they keep saying it will be ready in two hours,” Ms Fowler said.
“But they said that yesterday and the day before.
“I understand things break down and there are outages, but at least they could communicate with us a bit, to let us know.
“I don't mean to be melodramatic, but this could be dangerous. If a farmer tips over their tractor, they can't call for help.
“And even if someone finds them, they'll have to travel 12 km in one direction and 20 km in another to get any reception to call.
“This is a real safety risk.”
Regional general manager Steve Tinker said on Wednesday that Telstra was working hard to restore mobile services to the area.
“We’ve been working over the past week to restore services by replacing hardware but the fault is being caused by a complex transmission issue, which we’re working to fix as quickly as possible,” he said.
“Areas closer to Kyabram will continue to receive some limited overlapping mobile coverage and there’s no impact to landlines so people can continue to use their fixed line phones or use Telstra Wi-Fi calling on their mobile phone.
“We’re working as fast as we can to restore services and we’re sorry for the interruption to mobile services.”