Read also: Senior Telecom manager reveals extent of outageUPDATE 2 (2.33pm): Telecom's Twitter account is advising those still suffering problems to remove their batteries, then reinsert them to reset their phones.
Read also: Senior Telecom manager reveals extent of outage
UPDATE 2 (2.33pm): Telecom's Twitter account is advising those still suffering problems to remove their batteries, then reinsert them to reset their phones.
However, as of 2.59pm, at least a dozen customers tell NBR they still have no service after following this advice. Telecom blames network congestion as cell sites come back online, and advises people to "keep trying".
UPDATE: "Telecom issued the following statement at 1.30pm: Telecom advised today that an outage on the XT network late this morning caused disruption for some customers from Taupo southwards and that following corrective action, service is now being restored for these customers.
Full restoration is expected to be complete by 1pm today."
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For the second time in two months, the new mobile network goes haywire.
Have you been hit by the outage? Email NBR.
Barely a month and a half after its December 14 outage, which saw around 90,000 customers from Taupo to Bluff lose service for most a day, Telecom’s XT network appears to be playing up again.
One Hamilton user told NBR she had been without XT service since 10am this morning.
A message on Telecom's 123 helpline advises:
We are currently experiencing some issues with our XT mobile network which may mean customers south of Taupo, including all of the South Island, are having problems using mobile services.
This may include making and receiving calls, sending and receiving text messages, and using mobile broadband services.
Asked by NBR how many customers were affected, Telecom spokesman Mark Watts replied: "Hard to say .... [It] depends on how many people were attempting to use XT in that part of the country at the time."
Mr Watts had no comment at this stage on the cause of the outage.
However, the words “south of Taupo” will send a chill down Telecom executives' spine.
The December 14 outage was caused by a problem at a problem with Telecom’s RNC switch in Christchurch.
Telecommunications Users Association boss Ernie Newman, representing around 500 corporate customers, called December's blackout "beyond third world".
Telecom XT customers were given a free weekend of calls, and not billed for their previous Monday's calls, as recompense.
Telecom has two RNC switches; one controls XT calls and txts south of Taupo, the other looks after all traffic north of Taupo.
It is still unclear how many customers are affected.
Telecom did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
