MEDIA RELEASE - Updates on Vodafone's network status following the 14 November earthquake.

UPDATE 12 @ 12:40 pm Thursday 17 November

Vodafone’s mobile network in the lower South Island and upper North Island has been restored – with all sites now in operation. We expect to have the Kaikoura site fully restored with 4G services shortly.

Work to restore broadband and IP voice services in Kaikoura has been successful with services returning at 11pm last night. For more information, please see here for the latest joint update from Vodafone, Spark, and Chorus.

All affected HFC/FibreX fixed-line customers in Wellington have now had their services fully restored.

Vodafone’s Lambton Quay and Queensgate retail stores remain closed. We currently expect Lambton Quay will be open for business tomorrow. Our Lambton Quay headquarters has been assessed and cleared of any significant damage. Our people will progressively return to work at our Lambton Quay offices from today.

Kiwis can make an instant $3 donation to support the worst hit communities by simply texting RED CROSS to 3181. People can also visit www.redcross.org.nz/donate to give to the November 2016 Earthquake Appeal.

Vodafone wishes to thank everyone who has worked hard to restore telecommunications services to affected communities this week. As the Vodafone network is now very close to being fully operational, the frequency of these updates will reduce.

UPDATE 11 @ 4:15 pm Wednesday 16 November

Monday’s devastating earthquake impacted mobile and fixed line services in the lower North Island and upper South Island. The issues affecting Vodafone’s mobile network have been resolved – with our remaining impacted site in Waiau now connected back to the core network via a satellite link.

Our restored cell sites in Waiau, Hundalee and Kaikoura are now delivering 2G and 3G services, enabling people within reach of these sites to make voice calls, send text messages and use mobile data. Ward has 2G services up and running and we expect 3G to be functional within the next hour.

Please see here for the latest joint statement from Vodafone, Spark and Chorus regarding ongoing fixed-line and mobile restoration efforts in Kaikoura.

All affected HFC/FibreX fixed-line customers in Wellington have now had their services restored.

Every time an aftershock greater than 5.0 occurs, we are required to re-inspect our buildings and seek clearance before allowing access to staff or the public. As a result, a number of Vodafone retail stores in Wellington will remain closed until we have the green light for access including our Queensgate and Lambton Quay stores. Our Porirua and Cuba Street retail stores are now open to the public.

UPDATE 10 @ 6:00 pm Tuesday 15 November

Yesterday’s earthquake impacted mobile and fixed line services in the lower North Island and upper South Island. Most of these issues have now been resolved and there is only one remaining cell site that we are working to reinstate. The site in Waiau will be connected tomorrow to a temporary femtocell over satellite link to provide temporary coverage for people in this area.

Downer has started work to assess the extent of the damage to the fibre cable that runs along SH1 in Kaikoura. Six breaks have been identified and work is expected to continue for some weeks. Access and safety is a priority here as the damage to roads is extensive and the risk of further landslides is high.

As a priority, teams are working to provide additional resilience for the South Island utilising an undersea fibre optic cable that links between the North and South Islands and comes ashore just outside of Kaikoura for a power boost (Aqualink cable). By linking to this cable, Vodafone, as well as Spark and Chorus, will be able to restore most broadband and mobile services for customers in Kaikoura and some surrounding areas. Work started on this project today and updates will be provided as the team progresses.

Vodafone services are currently running on the Aqualink cable. Alternative options are currently being investigated to interconnect with Spark and Chorus, or Transpower and Vocus to restore diversity to the network.

The severe weather and continued aftershocks have presented additional challenges for us in Wellington. Some customers in the suburbs of Karori and Kelburn may be experiencing a loss of fixed line services. We are working to restore these as quickly as possible.

We are also working closely to assist a number of customers who provide critical services to New Zealand (banking, emergency services, and health services for example) to relocate and remain connected.

Every time an aftershock greater than 5.0 occurs, we are required to re-inspect our buildings and seek clearance before allowing access to staff or the public. As a result, a number of Vodafone retail stores in Wellington will remain closed until we have the green light for access including our Queensgate and Lambton Quay stores. Our Porirua retail store and the Porirua Mall have been impacted by flooding and are closed for business until further notice. Our Cuba Street store will be open tomorrow.

UPDATE 9 @ 1:10 pm Tuesday 15 November

SUMMARY OF EVENTS:

• A 7.5 magnitude earthquake at 12:02 am on Monday 14 November 2016, caused significant damage to regions of the lower North Island and upper South Island of New Zealand.
• Vodafone’s network was impacted as a result of power cuts and damage to fibre. Teams worked through the day and night to assess and repair damage where possible. They have reinstated power to numerous sites and have planned a number of work arounds to get parts of Kaikoura connected to voice and text services.
• Coverage is restored in all areas except Waiau. Vodafone’s Instant Network (Femtocell over satellite) will be deployed to the Waiau area this afternoon, providing critical voice and text connectivity for many people in the area.

DAMAGED FIBRE CABLE - KAIKOURA:

• Please see here for a joint statement from Vodafone, Spark and Chorus regarding the status of the damaged fibre cable.

MOBILE NETWORK:

• Multiple cell sites were immediately impacted by power outages in a number of regions on the North and South Island.
• The areas of Kaikoura, Ward, Hundalee, Clarence and Waiau sustained significant damage and customers in these areas experienced a full loss of mobile services.
• By 6:30 pm last night, power had been restored to most sites, and where required back-up generators were transferred to sites and put into operation. This restored mobile voice, text and data services to all lower North Island sites and South Island sites that were affected by the power outages.
• Two sites in the South Island (Clarence and Waiau) are still down and our teams are working to restore services as quickly as possible:
• Clarence – has some crossover coverage from the surrounding sites, and we are working to restore power on the site today.
• Waiau - Vodafone will be establishing a temporary femtocell over satellite link early this afternoon to provide temporary coverage for people in Waiau.

FIXED BROADBAND - WELLINGTON:

• All but 1 FibreX/HFC node in the Wellington region has been reinstated. A very small group of customers remain impacted with a loss of service. We are working to restore services to these customers today.
• We encourage Vodafone home broadband customers to investigate whether they are eligible to take advantage of our ‘Always Connected’ promise. Where possible, we will load a free mobile data bundle onto customer’s mobile phone so they can remain connected via mobile hotspots.
• Next update will be approx. 6pm this evening

UPDATE 8 @ 6:00 pm Monday 14 November

Customers in and around Kaikoura, Huandalee, Clarence, and Waiau are still experiencing degraded mobile services (a total of 3 sites are still down, a further 3 sites are partially down). This afternoon our technicians successfully installed a microwave backhaul link which has meant some people in these areas are now able to use voice and text services. Fixed line services in these areas and a number of other sites continue to be affected.

Vodafone’s is working closely with other telecommunications providers to repair damage to a significant fibre optic cable that runs through Kaikoura. The cable supports both fixed line and mobile networks. As the current conditions and the nature of the damage are very challenging, we are unable to give an expected restoration timeframe at this stage.

We encourage customers can check their fixed line service on the Chorus website - https://outages.chorus.co.nz/ We also encourage Vodafone home broadband customers to investigate whether they are eligible to take advantage of our ‘Always Connected’ promise. Where possible, we will load a free mobile data bundle onto customer’s mobile phone so they can remain connected via mobile hotspots.

A small number of FibreX/HFC customers in Wellington are also experiencing continued disruption to their service as 8 nodes are impacted by the power outage.

Our retail stores in Paraparaumu and Nelson have been assessed and cleared of any damage. These stores are now open to our staff and the public. However, our Lambton Quay building and retail stores in Queensgate and Cuba Street remain closed to staff and the public until further inspection has been carried out.

We will be able to advise on when we can resume normal business operations tomorrow morning.
Next update will be approx. 10am, Tuesday 15 November.

UPDATE 7 @ 2:20 pm Monday 14 November 2016

Vodafone’s retail stores in Paraparaumu and Nelson have been cleared of any damage. These stores are now open to our staff and the public.

Next update will be approx. 4:30pm

UPDATE 6 @ 1:45 pm Monday 14 November 2016

Customers in and around Kaikoura, Huandalee, Clarence, and Waiau are still experiencing degraded mobile services (a total of 7 sites are affected).

Fixed line services in these areas and a number of other sites continue to be affected. Customers can check their fixed line service on the Chorus website - https://outages.chorus.co.nz/

A small number of FibreX/HFC customers in Wellington are also experiencing continued disruption to their service as 13 nodes are impacted by the power outage.

Our Wellington building at Lambton Quay has now been assessed and we are able to provide restricted access to Vodafone staff for essential and limited purposes only. We will be able to advise on when we can resume normal business operations a little later in the day following a further inspection.

Next update will be approx. 4:30pm

UPDATE 5 @ 12:30 pm Monday 14 November 2016

To provide specific information for affected customers in and around Kaikoura - we have been informed that technicians as well as a back-up generator have been airlifted to the priority cell site in Kaikoura.

Two other cell sites, have also been connected to back-up generators. We are in the process of restoring power and connectivity. No ETA can be provided at the moment, but we will keep you updated. Fixed line and broadband services are also affected and we are working hard to get these re-established as quickly as possible.

We are aware of a break in the fibre that serves this area and our technicians are working closely with Chorus. The break has been identified at the location of a major slip and work to repair it will commence as soon as it is safe to do so. Information for local residents can be found at https://outages.chorus.co.nz/

In order to provide important connectivity and access to emergency services for customers in this region, our technicians are looking to put in place a temporary coverage solution using femtocells, similar to what we provided to Fiji after Cyclone Winston.

Technicians continue to monitor all other sites.

#EQNZ for local information

UPDATE 4 @ 9:30 am Monday 14 November 2016

Network technicians continue to monitor the mobile, fixed and broadband networks in earthquake affected regions. We can confirm that a small number of sites are affected by power outages and most have now kicked over to back-up battery or generator power. A small number of FibreX (HFC) customers in Wellington may be experiencing service interruptions. We are waiting for the power supply to settle before we send technicians to these sites.

We apologise for any service interruptions and urge people to refrain from making unnecessary calls, leaving the network free for emergency calls.

We are continuing to assess our retail stores and working closely with our teams to ensure the safety of customers and staff. Our stores in Lambton Quay, Cuba St, Queensgate, Porirua, and Blenheim currently remain closed. In Christchurch, our Riccarton stores are clear to open.

#EQNZ for local information

UPDATE 3 @ 7:30 am Monday 14 November 2016

Further to our updates across the morning, our technical teams have been working hard to ensure customers are able to remain connected. They have been able to assess the mobile and fixed networks and report that some sites in Wellington and Christchurch have been impacted by power cuts, there is no structural damage.

Back-up generators have arrived, or are on their way to key sites, should power outages continue across the day. We are sorry for any service disruption you may be experiencing. We know how important it is to stay connected with loved ones at times like this.

We are now assessing our retail stores and working closely with our teams to ensure the safety of customers and staff. We can advise that the following stores will remain closed until they have been checked and cleared for access: Lambton Quay, Cuba St, Queensgate, Porirua and Paraparaumu. The Christchurch retail stores are under review and we will update again shortly. #EQNZ for local information

UPDATE 2 @ 5:30 am Monday 14 November

Following this morning’s severe earthquake 20km South East of Hanmer Springs, we have conducted a full assessment of the mobile and fixed line networks.

The power outages have impacted a number of our sites and initiated a switch over to back up generators to keep sites operational. There are a small number of sites down, mainly in the Wellington and Christchurch regions. In some cases customers in these regions are covered by crossover signal from nearby sites. Back-up generators are en-route to key sites. As power companies restore power, sites are coming back on, and we will keep you updated as we progress.

We hope everyone is safe and not too shaken. Stay strong, listen to civil defence reports and check on those around you. On social media use #EQNZ.

UPDATE 1 @ 1.30 am Monday 14 November 2016

A severe earthquake struck the NZ South Island at 12:02am Monday and a tsunami warning has been issued for the eastern coast of the South Island.

We know that some of our mobile sites and fixed line cabinets have been impacted by power outages and we are working to identify the full extent of impact for our customers.

We hope everyone is ok. Please look out for each other and head to higher ground if you are on the eastern coast of the South Island.

We will update you as more information comes through.