As part of the ongoing bushfire recovery process Telstra will hold Community Information Days in Kinglake on Sunday 17 and Monday 18 May that will offer local residents one-to-one telecommunications advice and assistance.

“Many local residents are in the rebuilding phase after the bushfires so Telstra is holding Community Information Days where our team will be on stand-by to answer questions about new home phone connections, mobile phone services and BigPond internet services,” Patrick O’Beirne, Telstra Country Wide General Manager for the region said.

“Telstra introduced a Disaster Relief Package after the bushfires and the Community Information Days are designed as the next step to help customers with the recovery process.

“We really want to see as many customers as possible at the Community Information Days as it will be the ideal one-stop shop to get specialist advice on all telecommunication matters specific to the area.”

Telstra has already completed a great deal of restoration work in the Kinglake area to ensure residents have access to a fully operational telecommunications network.

“Telstra’s bushfire restoration work is being conducted as part of our company’s 3×3x3 Recovery Plan. This has involved getting customers reconnected, either with temporary services or arranging call diversions in the three days immediately after the bushfires,” Mr O’Beirne said.

“The next three weeks were used to make permanent restorations to telephone and internet services to homes and businesses.

“Telstra is now in the final three months of the recovery plan, with technicians making final repairs to damaged infrastructure, including digging trenches to lay new fibre optic cables, re-jointing existing copper cables, and re-positioning mobile phone poles,” Mr O’Bierne said.

Telstras Community Information Days will be held Sunday 17 May from 10.30am to 4.30pm and Monday 18 May from 9.30am to 5.00pm. Look out for the Telstra Country Wide truck and marquee on the grassed area next to the Kinglake Shire Office and Library, 19 Whittlesea Road, Kinglake.

Residents who are unable to attend the Community Information Days but have already registered for Telstra’s Disaster Relief Package and require further information should contact Telstra on:

* Freecall: 1800 110 503
* Hours: 9am to 6pm, weekdays
* Email: Natural.Disasters@team.telstra.com

For all other Telstra related issues customers should call: 13 22 03