UPDATE – 7AM SUNDAY: Telstra say as of this morning, 74 Telstra network sites were without mains power, affecting mobile and fixed-line services.
38 mobile sites are currently off the air due to a loss of power, with 33 of those in northern Tasmania.
“In good news, it appears our base stations haven’t suffered any major damage, so we expect once we get the electricity flowing again, mobile coverage should be restored,” Telstra’s Marc Brown said.
“We are working as fast as we can to restore connectivity and we appreciate the patience of impacted communities while this happens.”
Around 2,000 fixed-line customers have no landline services and a further 150 have no ADSL internet connection.
The impacted mobile base station locations include:
Arthur River, Blackwall, Blessington, Boat Harbour, Branxholm, Cambridge, Cygnet, Derby, Goulds Country, Irishtown, Lebrina, Lilydale, Lulworth, Marrawah, Maydena, Nabowla, Pencil Pine, Pipers Brook, Port Latta, Preolenna, Redpa, Rocky Cape, Rosetta, Sassafras, Scotchtown, Sisters Beach, South Mt Cameron, Strathgordon, Table Cape, Temma, Tomahawk, Tullah, Weldborough, Weymouth, Yolla.
Other carriers Optus and Vodafone are also being significantly impacted by the weather.
EARLIER: Tasmania’s communications infrastructure is facing a test of strength as a severe weather event batters the state this weekend.
Telecommunications contractors have raised concerns about the stability of several mobile phone sites and Tasmania’s major links to the mainland, warning that they are at risk of outages due to widespread power outages.
According to Telstra, 67 of their mobile phone stations across Tasmania were without mains power as of 10pm on Saturday.
While most of these stations remain ‘perfectly operational’ on backup batteries and generators, prolonged power outages could put a strain on the network, the company said.
“The longer the mains power stays off the faster they will go out,” a Telstra spokesperson told Pulse.
They said it was possible some phone towers could go offline during the night, if backup power runs out before mains power is restored.
Telstra says a large team of staff and contractors are on the ground across the state to keep people connected, rolling out backup generators to mobile phone stations.
“The challenge for us is how many generators there are … Power is out in a lot of places and generators in very high demand,” a spokesperson said.
“Other mobile network operators are also needing generators.”
To avoid a repeat of the 2022 Tasmanian Blackout, where the island lost connectivity with the mainland when two of the three fiber-optic cables under Bass Strait were cut, Telstra says it has allocated extra resources to ensure their “core network” remains online.
“Everything continues to work and it is something we’re monitoring closely,” the company said.
They have encouraged people to check on their neighbours, friends and family to ensure they are able to get help if they need it.
More than 30,000 properties across Tasmania remain without power as of 10pm on Saturday.
