Telecommunications restored to Kaikoura, fees waived

Telecommunications services have been restored to Kaikoura, while Spark will not charge a fee for those residents forced to move as a result of New Zealand’s earthquakes.

Broadband and IP voice services were successfully re-established after Vodafone, Spark and Chorus collaborated to reroute traffic to Wellington and Christchurch through provisioned capacity on Vodafone’s Aqualink cable.

With the Wellington link established, all of Kaikoura’s 1466 broadband customers should see their broadband service restored. However, specific local issues following the earthquakes, such as loss of power to a street cabinet or damage to an individual’s line, may result in some faulty connections.

Those who needed to terminate a Spark broadband contract early will not be charged. Normally, moving house incurs a standard connection fee, which can be up to $190 depending on whether there is an existing line at the new address or not.

“For those people it must be a hugely stressful time, and the news they may need to move is always devastating. We think the most important thing we can do is help make this process as smooth as we can at our end, and waiving fees is the right thing to do,” said Jason Paris, Spark Home, Mobile, and Business CEO.

However, while standard fees will be waived any non-standard installation fees will still need to be charged.

Affected customers are urged to talk to Spark about their needs at their earliest convenience, either by calling 123 or via Live Chat on www.spark.co.nz.

Kaikoura broadband customers remaining at their current address are advised to try reconnecting to their broadband. To re-set the connection, they should first turn their broadband modem off and on again. If they are then unable to connect and have mobile phone coverage, they should log the fault with their broadband provider.

Work to reconnect landlines is due to complete later today, as this requires an additional link from Kaikoura to Christchurch.

In addition, work to restore connectivity to the Waiau exchange is now complete after a 1 km fibre replacement cable was helicoptered in. Waiau residents should now have full access to landline services.