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Telecom - Source: Telecom -
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Telecom's massive network outage has consumer groups calling foul play.
The company's new XT network was down for customers south of Rotorua virtually all Wednesday with people unable to make phone calls, send text messages or use mobile broadband.
Callers to ONE News said they were still without coverage late into the night and on Thursday morning customers in the lower South Island - including Dunedin, Invercargill, Timaru and Queenstown - were still reporting problems. XT users in other areas are still experiencing intermittent service issues.
Consumer New Zealand chief executive Sue Chetwin says Telecom may have rushed into launching the network too soon, without testing it properly.
Chetwin says the company put more effort into its initial marketing campaign to get customers than making sure the XT network works.
She says Telecom may need to look at compensating customers for the network disruptions.
And the second massive outage of the new XT network in a month has consumers losing faith in the network and is bringing calls for compensation.
Chetwin says many customers would have been put out financially by the outage. She says these people signed up for something Telecom sold them and told them was going to work, but it doesn't.
Chetwin says Telecom must be getting quite used to the idea that it needs to compensate consumers because it seems to have to do it regularly.
Telecom chief executive Paul Reynolds has apologised to customers and says the company will be commissioning an independent review into the network's failings. He says the two outages were caused by separate faults and he is also angry at something which should never have happened.
"I apologise to our customers who have been inconvenienced, but also recognise that words are not enough. That's why we are taking rapid action.
"I have commissioned an urgent and independent review to ensure we have taken all reasonable steps to assure customer experience," Reynolds says.
Reynolds says he's incensed there have been two major outages in a month and he understands some customers will be very dissatisfied. But he says he doesn't think XT was launched before it was ready.
He says customers can expect a significant improvement in the network's performance and engineers are continuing remedial and testing work on the XT mobile network.
Farmers in the deep south are describing Telecom's XT network problems as "a real pain in the butt".
Southland Federated Farmers president Rod Pemberton says farmers have come to rely on their cellphones and the breakdown is a pain. But he says farmers are more frustrated than angry about the problem.
Pemberton says breakdowns happen, but Telecom's reputation for reliability has taken a serious dent.
And Wellington Regional Chamber of Commerce chief executive Charles Finny says the outage is of major concern for businesses that depend on access to the network, especially as it follows a similar fault just last month.
He says Telecom must ensure this doesn't happen again. He says Telecom will have a big job dealing with customers who are no doubt unhappy with the service.
Telecom has made no mention yet of compensation but after the breakdown in December it offered free calls for one day and free weekend calling.
Are you on the Telecom XT network and experiencing problems? ONE News would like to hear from you. Call 04 914 5095 or email newswn@tvnz.co.nz or share your experiences on our messageboard below.
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Post new commentemail55 said on 2011-02-03 @ 13:04 NZDT: Report abusive post
I could not access urgent client files to meet deadline with client - recently with Telecom outage. I turned my PC on at 8 a.m. to access files and could not access until late into the afternoon. I don't expect Telecom to fork out for every little 'outage', but at what point is it deemed signficant enough for them to compensate? As it is, I rang them recently and they said, "A credit will be applied to your account". Two weeks later they told me they weren't??
technoman said on 2010-02-25 @ 14:19 NZDT: Report abusive post
people seem to blame every hiccup they have on 'the issue'. I suppose it is only natural but common now!
sh0na said on 2010-02-24 @ 11:31 NZDT: Report abusive post
Still more problems with network today. Down again at the moment............When are they going to fix it for once and for all??????????????
jclan said on 2010-02-24 @ 09:42 NZDT: Report abusive post
i rang telecom today to disccuss the sistuation with there tx service and was told "that the only comenstratin that i would get is what is on there website" they dont care what has happened they dont care about their customers its either there way or nothing
jacquinz1 said on 2010-02-23 @ 21:23 NZDT: Report abusive post
After saying I wanted a refund on three XT phones from our household and plans cancelled, I was told I could go into a Telecome shop and they would supply loan CDMA phones free of charge and swap plans and numbers over until XT becomes more stable. I would suggest everyone does this.