Australian telco giant Telstra (ASX:TLS) says mobile services should be largely restored by tomorrow after significant progress in restoring thousands of services disrupted and damaged by Cyclone Yasi in Far North Queensland.

Telstra’s director of service delivery for Queensland, John Parkin, said that since Cyclone Yasi crossed the Queensland coast last Wednesday night/Thursday morning, more than 300 Telstra staff have been on the ground working to restore the fixed and mobile networks, with thousands more providing back-up support to customers.

“Our initial focus was on the restoration of our core network, which was vital to ensure telecommunications traffic into and out of the cyclone-affected areas, including Emergency Triple Zero, and to ensure communications for the emergency services,” Mr Parkin said.

“The biggest challenge for us has been the loss of mains power and from the outset we have worked in direct alignment with Ergon Energy to ensure our critical sites were restored as part of their overall restoration program. This coordination is continuing and is vital to the speed of restoration work.

Mr Parkin said Telstra also has deployed key staff to Emergency Management Queensland to help facilitate the support of Australian Defence Force and State resources to assist in clearing access tracks, airlifting generators and, most importantly, being able to respond quickly to key priorities being raised by communities in need.

“The recovery program is focussed on substantially completing service recovery for all
mobile sites that are accessible by late tomorrow. It’s been an extraordinary effort over just a few days given the extent of damage inflicted by a Category 5 cyclone,” Mr Parkin said.