iiNet warns copper telephone line customers face disconnection

Telecommunications vendor, iiNet's copper telephone line customers will soon be facing disconnections as part of the compulsory migration to the NBN. But it's not only iiNet customers - anyone on the old copper telephone line who is in one of the NBN-defined service zones will face the disconnection.

Telstra has been disconnecting the copper telephone lines of nearly 30,000 homes and businesses nationally this week as these units hit a deadline day, meaning anyone who has not placed an order for an NBN service will have their phone lines disconnected within 10 working days.

iiNet is a national provider of NBN services while the disconnection is part of the nbn Co's initiative.

August 14 marks NBN's copper disconnection and homes and businesses in Cairns, Coffs Harbour, Wollongong, Western Sydney, Ballarat, Melbourne, Hobart; Adelaide, Perth, Mandurah, and Geraldton can expect their copper lines cut off if they haven’t placed an order for NBN.

The news follows the announcement in May last year that the nbn Co will be progressively permanently disconnecting areas in Australia that have reached the deadline for ageing copper telephone networks as part of the move to the NBN.

More than 175,000 premises throughout Australia hit the disconnection deadline so far this year - more than three times as many as in all of last year.

iiNet NBN product manager, Rachael McIntyre, said consumers need to act quickly in order to upgrade to the NBN.

"While phone and Internet services may not stop working on that date, they will within days, so it really is time for people to upgrade to the NBN. Households or businesses still relying on the old phone network need to choose either to switch across to the NBN or to go mobile-only,” she said.

McIntyre said people who had not yet moved to the NBN needed to make a number of decisions – firstly, they must choose whether they want an Internet access service, a phone service or both.

“Secondly, if they use services such as faxes, monitored security alarms, Priority Assistance Services or EFTPOS terminals, they need to speak to the providers of these services to confirm they work on the NBN.

“The third step is to select the NBN Retail Service Provider that best meets their needs, in terms of product, pricing and customer service. People do need make the choice. We really want to ensure they don’t risk losing their phone and Internet service before they get the NBN connected,” she added.