Related to Outage : Unplanned Fibre Network Outage - All Suburbs, NSW

[jim80z]

Dear Exetel,

Your handling of this outage has been pathetic to say the least. Some points

• I noticed the NBN connection go down around/after 9:30pm last night and then couldn't authenticate back into the service - but checking the modem/router showed the local synch was up and ok

• The first notification of an outage appeared on line at 9:55pm by Kavindip but it didn't say much

• Checked several times for an update after the initial posting and then had to send an email after 1am to hopefully get an update to the record - viewtopic.php?f=296&t=44600

• No updates until 6:31 this morning and then the next one at 8:13 this morning

• Its now 9:43am and no new update

The updates and your ability to set expectations is woefully inadequate.

Now to the so called outage.......how can "cable damage approximately 17.5km from Chatswood exchange" associated with your "wholesale supplier" take out "All Suburbs, NSW"??? What kind of redundancy do you have in the system??? Where is you're cold stand-by to failover to if you don't have active-active connections???

I think you have to relook at your processes and scrub up on customer service 101. I don't think its too much to ask for to get updates on an hourly basis to keep people informed.

In addition get some smart people in a room to review your network architecture and seriously consider all single points of failure in an attempt to eradicate them or have plans in place for workarounds if needed. If you haven't noticed yet, the network people subscribe to is no longer there for simply browsing the web, watching you tube, et al......it has become a vital part of people lives that needs an uptime that is aligned to the old telephone networks......people use it for work, land line connectivity, etc. Please take it more seriously.

Long time loyal and now seriously disappointed customer.

Jim

[Les]

Hi,

I think the outage issue affecting NSW users might be less widespread than reported.

My Exetel NBN service at the office (Tuggerah) went down at precisely the time of the outage began, but my Exetel NBN connection at home (Kariong) is still working fine as is the Exetel NBN connection at my parents (Empire Bay).

I've also checked with some other people I've recommended Extel to over the years and their services at Narara and Terrigal are also still working.

It could be that if these services need to re-authenticate they might go down, or it could be that some services are provided by different upstream wholesalers to Exetel.

Les

[jim80z]

Thanks Les

I agree it's not widespread, I have checked the same. In the post re the outage they articulate "Products Impacted : Fibre" not sure if this is a descriptor for higher speed NBN or other that might explain why a subset is affected?

Latest update for those interested in this thread as at 11:38

"The supplier technician Team has confirmed that the Cable Damage has been caused by third party boring, which has broken 288 Fibres. The damage location is 543 Victoria Road, Ermington. The technician Team has already requested for the replacement Fibre to be brought in.

Estimated Resolution : Our wholesale supplier is unable to provide us with an estimated time of resolution at this stage."

This may take a while.

Jim

[KavindaS]

Hi All,

Firstly, I would like to apologise to you on behalf of Exetel for any inconvenience you may have experienced with relation to this matter.

Recently I have received some information of the affected areas, and I will have the notification thread viewtopic.php?f=296&t=44600&p=325834#p325834 updated accordingly.

[Surfn Chick]

I think Exetel's notifications have been more than adequate and I would like to thank Exetel for that. They were Wed 3 apri
8.13 am
10.38 am
1.11pm
5.45 pm
9.49

And again this morning.

jim80z you probably should imagine the caos at the site of the damage and why you seem to be blaming Exetel when they have clearly explained that it was third party boring. They are receiving information as it comes to hand and passing on accordingly through the forum.

The outage is in the Kiama area too.

I would suggest Exetel send out a blanket email.

Dear Exetel,

Your handling of this outage has been pathetic to say the least. Some points

• I noticed the NBN connection go down around/after 9:30pm last night and then couldn't authenticate back into the service - but checking the modem/router showed the local synch was up and ok

• The first notification of an outage appeared on line at 9:55pm by Kavindip but it didn't say much

• Checked several times for an update after the initial posting and then had to send an email after 1am to hopefully get an update to the record - viewtopic.php?f=296&t=44600

• No updates until 6:31 this morning and then the next one at 8:13 this morning

• Its now 9:43am and no new update

The updates and your ability to set expectations is woefully inadequate.

Now to the so called outage.......how can "cable damage approximately 17.5km from Chatswood exchange" associated with your "wholesale supplier" take out "All Suburbs, NSW"??? What kind of redundancy do you have in the system??? Where is you're cold stand-by to failover to if you don't have active-active connections???

I think you have to relook at your processes and scrub up on customer service 101. I don't think its too much to ask for to get updates on an hourly basis to keep people informed.

In addition get some smart people in a room to review your network architecture and seriously consider all single points of failure in an attempt to eradicate them or have plans in place for workarounds if needed. If you haven't noticed yet, the network people subscribe to is no longer there for simply browsing the web, watching you tube, et al......it has become a vital part of people lives that needs an uptime that is aligned to the old telephone networks......people use it for work, land line connectivity, etc. Please take it more seriously.

Long time loyal and now seriously disappointed customer.

Jim

[Les]

Hi,

It appears that services in the Berkeley Vale area came back up 15 minutes ago.

I doubt thy'd have repaired all the cut fibres as yet, but at least the're repaired the fibre servicing that area.

Les

[KavindaS]

Hi,

It appears that services in the Berkeley Vale area came back up 15 minutes ago.

I doubt thy'd have repaired all the cut fibres as yet, but at least the're repaired the fibre servicing that area.

Les

Hi Les,

Latest I have received.

The supplier's Fibre crew has confirmed that 60 fibres have been repaired, splicing continues on the rest of the damaged fibres.

[Les]

Hi,

It appears Berkeley Vale POI was on one of the 37 fibres they repaired between the 11:30am and 4:20pm updates.

Les

[KavindaS]

Hi,

It appears Berkeley Vale POI was on one of the 37 fibres they repaired between the 11:30am and 4:20pm updates.

Les

Hi Les,

We ahve made all escalations to get periodic updates. However, when we receive in detail we will update the common notification forum viewtopic.php?p=325863#p325863

[KavindaS]

I would suggest Exetel send out a blanket email.

Thank you for the feedback given here. We have sent text messages informing the outage on the following day, to all the customers within the identified affected connections.

[luxford]

I live in Cowra, still no service nor sms message from Exetel. My area has not even been identified as being affected so I hope my outage is not for some other reason.

[KavindaS]

I live in Cowra, still no service nor sms message from Exetel. My area has not even been identified as being affected so I hope my outage is not for some other reason.

Can you PM me your service number, and I will check on your service and confirm ?

[luxford]

As requested I sent my service number and mobile number on 4 Apr. At 1700hrs this evening I still have no service or advice from Exetel as to whether I am affected by the cable being cut or whether I have another issue. Your advice would be appreciated.

[luxford]

Will somebody please answer my previously asked questions?

[IsuruB]

Apologies for the delay in getting back to you. We will look into the matter and get back to you shortly with confirmation.