Upper Yarra
5 Tuesday, 5 June, 2018
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Mail Covering the Upper Yarra Region of the Yarra Ranges Shire
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and each premisis is different. It may be that they can connect to that node, but it could be there's another way to connect. "There are always some business that require additional work to get the connection and if we had to wait until 100% were able to connect, some people would be waiting to connect." In the meantime the business needs to be reconnected to the old-style network. Telstra Area General manager Loretta Willaton said that they had contacted Mr Ma to update him on the investigation process. "The issue is complex, and may involve additional infrastructure to connect them to the NBN. We are working with NBN to see what can be done," Ms Willaton said.
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swering the phone. "All we can say is 'sorry'." Mr Ma said Telstra had cut off their service. "They think we have already shifted to NBN, but we haven't. We have applied to NBN and they say we can't connect, but we don't know why." The Mail contacted NBN and Telstra seeking an explanation of what the problem is in connecting to Warburton Post Office, and why it hasn't been fixed. NBN local manager Russell Kelly confirmed Warburton Post Office is not connected to NBN and said proximity to the node is not necessarily relevant. "NBN is not available to that business
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ing problems that don't seem to be able to be resolved. Mr Ma said that after the Mail contacted Telstra and NBN Co last week, an NBN technician came out on Friday (1 June). "He said I need to contact Telstra again, so we called Testra and they said it's NBN's problem and we need to wait four or five days," Mr Ma said. Mr Ma said it was hard to say to what extend they are losing business, and money, as a result of the disruptions and loss of service. "We have customers bring documents in and ask us to send a fax, but we have no line. "We get a lot of complaints from people saying they have tried to call, but no-one is an-
Picture: Rob Carew
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YARRA VALLEY
Jack Ma at the NBN node which is just metres from the Warburton Post Office. 181465
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Warburton Post Office is in communication limbo with its customers, NBN Co and Telstra as they wait| to tap into the NBN network. Since the NBN was connected in Warburton at the end of 2017, business owner Jack Ma said they have been plagued with problems with phone and internet connection which has left him and his staff having to rely on personal mobile phones to try to keep the business connected. Staff member Emily Kioulafas, speaking to the Mail on behalf of Mr Ma said they have been dealing with NBN Co and with their service provider Telstra for the past six months with each passing the buck to the other. Warburton Post Office is, the Mail has been told by NBN Co, not able to be connected to NBN at this point, but needs to stay connected to their original internet provider, Telstra. Ms Kioulafas said the business got a new modem and the internet was working for a while but would drops out. "We'll get it for a week and it will cut out for a month and when it drops out we have no internet, no fax and no phone," Ms Kioulafas told the Mail. She said most frustrating was the conversations they have had with so many different people over the past fortnight with no solution in sight. In the latest hit to their efforts to get the problem sorted, Ms Kioulafas said they have been told by Telstra that they are not on their radar. "I have had conversations with so many people over the last two weeks and they (Telstra) have now said that we don't have a service with them any more ... even though we have been paying our bills to Telstra. "Basically we give them our account number and they say they can't find our number and it's all down to NBN. "They transfer me to the NBN who say there is an order in for it to be connected, but we haven't heard any more." With an NBN node directly outside the post office, both Mr Ma and Ms Kioulafas say they can't understand why other businesses in the main street are connected, and they are hav-