Telcos must ‘come to table’ with solutions after storms

the state government turns up the heat on telcos over phone service blackouts. Photo: AAP
Victoria’s devastating storms have shone a spotlight on the need for more backup power to telecommunication towers as tens of thousands of homes remain off the grid, Premier Jacinta Allan says.
About 33,000 dwellings and premises were still disconnected from the electricity network as of Friday morning, Ms Allan confirmed.
Authorities expect most will be reconnected by 6pm on Saturday, while a further 3000 likely won’t have power restored until early next week.
Most properties still off the grid are serviced by AusNet, with its crews continuing to clear debris and repair powerlines following Tuesday’s catastrophic storms.
The storms led to one of the biggest power outages in Victoria’s history, with 530,000 properties off the grid at one point.
Collapsed transmission lines caused the Loy Yang A coal-fired power station in the Latrobe Valley to shut down, but authorities insist the widespread outages were caused by local transmission damage.
Asked if more power lines should be moved underground, Ms Allan didn’t completely dismiss the idea but stressed the resilience of the above-ground network needed to be strengthened.
“You can’t have a uniform approach,” she said.
About 230 phone towers were still offline on Thursday as Telstra, Optus and TPG crews raced to reconnect services.
The government said some residents may be unable to make triple-zero calls after Telstra warned up to 22 communities were potentially isolated from all public telecommunications.
Ms Allan said it was reasonable to question if telcos should have more batteries and generators in towers as backup power sources for severe weather events.
“We saw the same thing coming out of Queensland with the cyclone event before Christmas,” the premier said.
“The reality is everyone relies on their mobile phone. Very few people have a landline.
“This has really emerged strongly out of this event this week as something that needs much greater focus and attention both levels of government, but also the telecommunications companies have to come to the table with solutions.”
Government Services Minister Gabrielle Williams met with telecommunications companies on Thursday and will do so again on Friday.
Internal reports, published by the Herald Sun, show emergency callers at one point on Tuesday were forced to wait more than a minute for fire services, up to six minutes for police and 23 minutes for the State Emergency Service.
Ms Allan suggested the state’s emergency call-taking service, Triple Zero Victoria, came under strain despite extra staff being added in anticipation of the catastrophic weather.
“Tuesday was the highest number … for police calls ever,” she said.
“It was the fourth highest ever for the emergency service and I think that speaks to … the tornado-like winds.”
NBN services were also impacted by the storms across more than 100 suburbs, with significant damage remaining to infrastructure in Belgrave, Berwick South, Emerald, Lakes Entrance, Leongatha and Mirboo North.
A relief point has been set up in Mirboo North to provide information, electricity generators and satellite internet for residents after the town was completely cut off by the storm damage.
Yarram and District Health Service in Victoria’s southeast and Korumburra Hospital in South Gippsland remain on backup generators, with power expected to be restored on Saturday.
– AAP