New Zealand’s major operators have taken just a week to restore the majority of services knocked out by a severe earthquake late February.
Carriers say they have restored services in most areas, with only a few sites still out of action due to power supply problems following the quake on Feb 22, which measured 6.3 on the Richter scale.
Incumbent Telecom NZ has restored full service to its mobile networks, and states all its exchanges are running, using a combination of mains and generator power.
While some customers still don’t have phone or internet services, the telco said all of its roadside cabinets are now operational, and it has repaired 37 major fixed-line cables.
It was a similar story at Vodafone NZ, which says its mobile network is operational in all but a “small number” of cell sites with no power, and that most of its fixed-line and broadband infrastructure is back up and running.
Eric Hertz, chief of 2degrees, said his firm has restored 2G and 3G services in Christchurch – the city worst hit by the quake -, by using mobile cell sites to boost coverage.
Telstra subsidiary TelstraClear admitted that 6,000 customers were still without services by this morning, however around 25,000 were originally affected by the quake. The firm is also moving a Christchurch-based call center, which is leading to longer call waiting times.