Wednesday, 2 March 2011, 2:11 pm Press Release: Telecom New Zealand
TELECOM MEDIA ADVISORY: Canterbury earthquake- update Tuesday 2 March
NetworkstatusOverall Telecom’s network remains stable andoperational. All Telecom exchanges are working, using acombination of mains and generated power, as are themajority of roadside cabinets. the mobile network is fullyfunctioning. Work is now focused on diagnosing and restoringlocalised faults.
Earthquake damage has affectedsome large underground cables, particularly in the east ofthe city affecting services within the suburbs of Linwood,Mt Pleasant, Shirley, New Brighton, Sumner, Lyttleton andBeckenham.
Chorus technicians are working asquickly as possible to assess quake damage and to identifythe best option for restoring services. Already more than 37major cables have been repaired, however, there are stillcustomers without phone or internet services - particularlyin eastern parts of Christchurch – due to physical damageto the network or continued loss of power.
Analoguephone campaignTelecom CEO Paul Reynolds said thenationwide response to Telecom’s campaign for analoguelandline phones has been incredible, with more than 5,000phones being distributed in Christchurch and more on theway.
“We’ve had a fantastic response to ourrequest for analogue phones and I’d like to say a hugethank you to all of the Kiwis who have contributed.
“Phones are being donated all over the country throughour Telecom retail stores and we’re working with CivilDefence to distribute them to people in Christchurch stillwithout power,” he said.
People in Christchurchstill without power can pick up an analogue phone from oneof Telecom’s Connect Hubs located at welfare centres suchas Burnside High School and Pioneer Stadium, and Telecomstores in Riccarton, Hornby and Northlands ShoppingMall.
Update on free payphones and donationsMore than 55,000 calls have been made from 260 freeTelecom payphones across Christchurch. Locations of Telecomfree payphones and WiFi hotspots can be found at www.telecom.co.nz/chch
Morethan 30,000 people have used the official Red Crosstxt-to-donate fundraising service, supplied by Telecom, todonate to the New Zealand Red Cross 2011 Earthquake Appeal.Users of all New Zealand mobile networks can text 4419 tomake an automatic $3 donation to the Appeal. To ensure 100%of the donation will make its way to the Appeal, Telecom isproviding this service free-of-charge.
Detail ofTelecom’s response to the Canterbury Earthquake andinformation for Telecom customers can be found at http://www.telecom.co.nz/earthquake
ENDS
Telecom Canterbury Earthquake Update -Tuesday 2 March