NextG Network outage in Queensland

Beware of depending on one form of communications.

Here is a quote from itnews

"Telstra has confirmed that users of its Next G Mobile network are unable to receive signal in the entire state of Queensland. Telstra customers in Queensland began reporting that phone calls were not connecting and that SMS messages were not being sent from around 5:15am."

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But having a network fail isn't the only way your Telstra phone can suddenly go dead.

Last month my phone suddenly last network signal - after a while a rang my own number (which I'd had for 8 years) and someone else answered !!! They'd gone into a Telstra shop and asked for a replacement SIM card. The staff member issued them a new SIM card - but with MY number on it, instead of his, causing my SIM card to be invalidated. There ARE no safeguards in the Telstra system to prevent a working SIM card from being invalidated.

I asked them to assure me that this would never happen again, but their response was nil. If I'd been in a remote area I would have been really stuck - I had to go to a Telstra shop and get a new SIM card - which they stuffed up - I had to go back again because it was locked from making calls !!!

So how does Telstra treat customers that they've totally stuffed around ? They offered me 50% off the cost a new SIM card !!!! They expected me to pay $15, travel to Telstra shop twice, put with possible loss of work due to having my phone calls forwarded to a stranger - all because they totally stuffed up.

It's that sort of non-customer-service that's convinced me to sell my Telstra shares - as soon as they rise to a reasonable value !

So the lesson is - if communications is really important, always have a backup !