Telstra customers impacted by a recent nationwide outage are eligible to apply for compensation from the telecommunications company. The national network shutdown last Wednesday disrupted mobile coverage for millions of Australians and caused businesses to lose access to digital payment systems.
The outage also affected emergency services, with Telstra reporting over 600 calls to triple zero that failed to connect, necessitating welfare checks. Major transportation infrastructure, including train services in New South Wales and Victoria, electric vehicle chargers managed by Chargefox, and taxi and Uber services, experienced disruptions.
Michael Ackland, Telstra's chief financial officer, stated on Monday that businesses that incurred financial losses due to the outage can submit compensation claims. Applicants are advised to make an online complaint via Telstra's official complaints webpage or through its app, providing evidence to support their claims. Ackland indicated that the company would request supporting documentation via email and might contact claimants by phone for further clarification.
"We require evidence to support your claim and will ask for you to provide this via a reply to that email," Ackland said. "Providing a clear description of the impact, your estimated claim amount, and supporting documentation will help us assess your claim more efficiently. We may contact you by phone to discuss further evidence required or to clarify your claim."
Non-business customers affected by the outage were also encouraged to submit complaints. Ackland apologized for the disruption, acknowledging the community's reliance on Telstra's network for work, travel, and safety.
Telstra has identified the cause of the outage as a time synchronization glitch. While most of the network was restored by Wednesday afternoon, some business customers experienced longer recovery times. Ackland noted that a subsequent issue affecting some calls, including to triple zero, was identified and resolved by 12:30 p.m. on July 9.
