Telecom boss Paul Reynolds apologised today for the "appalling'' three-day Telecom XT mobile outage last week, and outlined a compensation package worth almost $5 million.
The package offered pre-paid, post-paid monthly, small to medium enterprises and corporate customers credits, ranging from $10 to a month-long credit. In addition, Telecom will distribute more than $250,000 to local bodies south of Timaru.
The outage last week, from Wednesday morning to 10pm Friday, outraged Telecom XT customers and businesses whose services were disrupted or totally lost during the outage period.
"We're in Dunedin today to say sorry and to do the right thing for our XT customers. It [the outage] appalls me, and we want to take comprehensive action,'' Mr Reynolds told Telecom staff and media in a non-public meeting today in Dunedin.
Credits to all telephone accounts will be undertaken automatically by Telecom, which is able to track customers usage during the periods involved, with pre-paid customers credited by the end of February and post-paid accounts credited in their March billing cycle.
They will be texted to say they qualify.
The package was designed to recognise those customers who lost service during the outage and makes a donation to the South Island communities that were most heavily disrupted by the outage.
"We have aimed to make the goodwill gesture as comprehensive as possible, while being fair, transparent and equitable," Mr Reynolds said in a statement.
The credits apply to all XT customers based in areas south of Taupo to the bottom of the South Island who were impacted by the outage.
Customers in the affected areas will have the credits applied automatically to their accounts and do not need to take any action. Both prepaid and postpaid consumer customers will receive a text message advising that they qualify for the credit.
Prepaid customers will have the credit applied to their account automatically by the end of February and postpaid customers will receive their credit on their next month's billing.
Customers whose service was degraded on Wednesday, January 27:
• Prepaid consumer customers - $10 credit
• Postpaid consumer customers - One week's worth of plan charges, including Telecom Extras, such as texting or data packages
• Telecom Retail SME customers and Gen-i corporate customers - Two weeks' worth of plan charges, including Telecom Extras, such as texting or data packages
Customers whose service was severely impacted for up to three days between Wednesday, January 27 and 10pm on Friday, January 29:
• Prepaid consumer customers - $20 credit
• Postpaid consumer customers - Two weeks' worth of plan charges, including Telecom Extras, such as texting or data packages
• Telecom Retail SME customers and Gen-i corporate customers - Four weeks' worth of plan charges, including Telecom Extras, such as texting or data packages
"We make this gesture in recognition of the inconvenience and frustration the outage caused our customers, but we fully appreciate that what our customers most need is to have confidence that we are putting every conceivable effort into ensuring that the XT network delivers for our customers.
"We do recognise that businesses in particular suffered severe disruption during the outage so felt that fairness dictated that we take an extra step for them," he said.
In recognition of the particular disruption the outage caused in the lower South Island, Telecom will be working with community leaders and local councils to donate more than $250,000 to community projects across the lower South Island.
"We are committing to donating more than a quarter of a million dollars and we will work closely with the local communities to ensure this money is invested in projects that provide the widest possible benefits while also recognising the different aspects and needs of those communities."
Dr Reynolds reassured customers that all possible steps are being taken to ensure the stability of the network.
"XT was built as a world class network and we are determined that is what we will give our customers. We will leave no stone unturned as we commence the independent review of XT to ensure we are giving New Zealand the world class network it demands and deserves," he said.
