Meeniyan residents and businesses are demanding answers from Telstra as a significant phone outage enters its second week, despite the telecommunications giant claiming the issue was resolved.
The outage has severely impacted local businesses, with Lyrebird Arts Council unable to process ticket sales and taking IOUs at the Cash Savage concert on 1 February and local ATM and EFTPOS services affected. Multiple residents report both mobile and landline services remain down, raising concerns about emergency access for vulnerable community members.
"My neighbours are in their late 80's and their mobile and house line are not working, which is bad as they are both not well," said local resident Carol Sheehan. "This is beyond a joke. The shops are becoming more anxious as they are starting to struggle with their businesses."
Adding to residents' frustration, Telstra's outage tracker claimed the issue was resolved at 3:42pm on Monday, yet services remained disrupted well into Tuesday. When contacted by residents, Telstra representatives reportedly insisted their systems showed no ongoing problems.
One resident, who spent six hours trying to report the issue, was told they needed to call from the affected area to verify the problem - an impossible request given the lack of service.
Residents are being encouraged to lodge formal complaints with both Telstra and the Telecommunications Ombudsman. Cara Schultz
