Telecom Media advisory: Canterbury earthquake - update 5.45pm, 23 February

While restoration of mains power in some parts of Christchurch has meant some mobile sites that were running on back-up power are now back running as normal, the network is still affected by ongoing power issues in other areas of the city and physical disruption caused by yesterday’s earthquake.

Our advice remains to minimise use of mobile phones, and for people to use text messages instead of calls when possible to free up the network for emergency response workers and to minimise the drain on backup batteries and generators.

Telecom is re-deploying generators to sites still without mains power, and also bringing in an additional 33 generators overnight.

We continue to intensively monitor network capacity and performance, with a particular focus on 111 services and key emergency response sites. Loss of mains power continues to be the central issue affecting our network.

Telecom is bringing in three additional COWs (Cell Sites on Wheels) to help boost mobile coverage and capacity to support ongoing relief work in key emergency response areas, including the Civil Defence headquarters at the City Art Gallery. We are also providing Civil Defence with 150 solar power chargers for phones and other mobile devices and mobile phones to rescue workers as they arrive in the region.

Telecom’s contact centre operations have been fully migrated to Hamilton.

Our technicians are prioritising restoration work on services required by emergency response teams, and those related to medical locations and services. This work is being hampered by difficulties moving around the city and Civil Defence restrictions.

Telecom has made three WiFi Hotspots in Christchurch available for free. These WiFi sites are at Telecom Riccarton Mall, Café Zero (Cashmere Rd), and the Westpac Centre (Addington).

Customers with friends or family with a prepaid Telecom mobile can call 0800 32 32 32 and top up their prepaid credit on their behalf.

ADVICE FOR PEOPLE IN CHRISTCHURCH

We recommend people change their voicemail message to let callers know the time, date and their location and, if possible, alternate contact details to provide some reassurance should mobile phone batteries go flat given the difficulties with power supply.

Our advice remains to minimise use of mobile phones, and for people to use text messages instead of calls when possible to free up the network for emergency response workers and to minimise the drain on backup batteries and generators.

People without power in their homes will not be able to use cordless landline phones, as base stations require power. If customers have corded landline phones that plug directly into the wall and do not require power, they should use them instead.

To minimise the stress on the network and to conserve back-up power we ask people to continue only using their phones for emergency calls. It’s important that we maintain integrity of the network to enable them to do their job.

A reminder that 260 payphones in and around Christchurch are enabled to make free calls to local, national and mobile numbers.

ADVICE FROM PREVIOUS UPDATES

Telecom is starting a campaign to collect analogue landline phones from around the country to distribute to people in Christchurch without power who only have cordless landline phones which are reliant on power. These ‘old fashioned’ corded analogue phones plug straight into a jack-point and don’t require mains power. We are asking people to drop spare analogue phones in to any Telecom store during retail opening hours. These phones will be distributed to those in need in Christchurch.

We also ask customers nationwide to refrain from making audio conference calls to preserve this facility for emergency service personnel.

Disruption to landline and mobile services continues, and widespread power outages mean large parts of the network are still working off backup power. The mobile network remains significantly affected. A number of cell sites are inoperative with others still heavily congested.

Our focus remains on restoring and maintaining mobile cell sites in the CBD. All central city cell sites that are operational have been connected to generators to keep them running. We have deployed two COWs (Cell Sites on Wheels) to critical areas to boost mobile coverage and we are looking to deploy additional COWs from around the country. We are also deploying technicians from around New Zealand to assist in the restoration of telecommunication services in the Canterbury region.

111 services remain stable and available and any issues connecting to 111 are likely to be due to network disruption due to damage, power outages or congestion. People trying to contact 111 should try again if they experience issues connecting. 111 calls are being prioritised and an additional temporary 111 answer centre has be established in Palmerston North.

We will provide regular updates as more information becomes available.

Our thoughts are with the people of Canterbury.

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