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Category: Internet Technology / Electricity Energy and Utilities / State Parliament

Tasmanian internet users angry as Basslink repairs slow downloads

Saturday, 12 Mar 2016 05:58:55

Some Tasmanian ISPs use the Basslink cable to provide internet, but have had to move to Telstra's undersea cable while it is being repaired. (ABC News: Nic MacBean)

Tasmanian internet users have reported slow internet speeds after repairs began on the faulty Basslink power cable.

The undersea cable is used to import and export some power between Tasmania and Victoria and has been out of action since December.

Basslink also carries fibre-optic cables for the internet but service providers have had to use Telstra's undersea cable while Basslink is out of commission.

About 9:15pm on Friday, Basslink severed the cable as it began repairs.

iiNet is one of the providers experiencing disruptions to service speeds.

In a statement on Facebook the company said it was unclear how long the disruption would last.

"During this repair process iiNet customers will experience a degraded service with capacity on the links that transfer telecommunication services to the region reduced," it said.

"We have implemented an alternate solution for the duration of these repairs, however it is important to note this will provide limited capacity for iiNet customers."

iiNet said affected customers would be contacted for applicable downtime credits to their normal billing.

Internode customers are also affected.

External Link: Tweet by Peter Lawler: Avg 69.4KBPps to your mirror on 100/40MBps business grade NBN? Surely you're joking @Internode.

External Link: Tweet by Barbara Cox: Just spoke to a lovely @Internode service person who had no idea about #Basslink problem.

External Link: Tweet by Valkyrie: Looks like @internode has caved. We're getting about 70mbps this morning.

Consumer advocacy group Digital Tasmania said speeds seemed to have improved since peak times on Friday night.

Basslink's repair teams will continue testing parts of the cut cable to isolate the fault - a process which could take up to two weeks.

Basslink has also warned the process will likely be disrupted by weather conditions, with swells and waves posing a hazard to crews.

CEO Malcolm Eccles said the first cut to the cable was a major step forward.

"After working round the clock since the outage, we are pleased to reach this important milestone," he said.

The fault in the cable was located 89 kilometres from Tasmania's north coast and divers assessed the fault on Friday.

AustraliaPlus


 

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