Latest news with #phoneoutage
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Lightning strike results in Kentucky State Police phone outages
HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) — Kentucky State Police Post 2 is experiencing phone outage's after a lightning strike on August 12. According to police, non-emergency lines have been transferred to backup phones. State police can be also be reached by dialing the following numbers: (270)-793-6406 (270)-793-6402 Estimated time of repair is currently unknown. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
ABC News
23-07-2025
- ABC News
Busselton residents fear safety impacts of mobile signal shortfall
Residents in the West Australian tourism hub of Busselton say frequent dropouts in phone and internet service are an unacceptable impost on public safety and trade. The situation left a family in a life-threatening situation and unable to call triple-0 as a fire swept through their property earlier this year. Jane Bennett lives on a rural property within the City of Busselton, about 230 kilometres south of Perth and a 20-minute drive to Busselton's CBD. In January, her husband Owen Bennett was faced with the daunting task of battling a fire on his own, unable to call for help because of an unplanned outage of a nearby phone tower. "He's in direct line of sight to the tower, which is about a kilometre away, and he's calling triple-0 and it doesn't connect," Ms Bennett said. "He was in panic." Ms Bennett said her husband managed to find a signal on a neighbour's property and it was a "miracle" their house was saved when firefighters arrived an hour later. She said when they asked Telstra about the unplanned outage they were told it was caused by a severed fibre-optic cable at Bridgetown, 80 kilometres away. Telstra told the Bennetts the cable was "cut due to nearby third-party excavation works". As Australia's national operator of the triple-0 service, Telstra is required to have fail-safe systems and processes for emergencies. A Telstra spokesperson said residents were informed of outages on its website. "We are very saddened to hear of any damage or loss due to natural disasters," the spokesperson said. "In times of mobile outages, it's important that households have access to a second form of connectivity as a back-up — this could be fixed NBN, satellite or landline services." Businesses in the heart of Busselton said they wanted better telecommunications, saying it was important to cope with demand during peak holiday periods and the dropouts were a public safety issue. Busselton Chamber of Commerce chief executive Victoria Yuen said connectivity was a big issue hitting business bottom lines, particularly in the busy summer months when pressure on telecommunications was at its peak. "The main issues are dropouts of phones," she said. "Dropouts when people are trying to work from home. Payment systems not working. Ms Yuen said she had been pushing for improved telecommunications infrastructure in Busselton for years but the issue was largely overlooked. She said it was embarrassing that business owners had to walk to the end of their driveway to get a decent phone signal. "We can't just keep saying, 'Oh it's OK. This is what happens,'" Ms Yuen said. "No, that's not a decent enough excuse anymore." The City of Busselton is home to more than 40,000 people, according to the 2021 census, and is considered one of the fastest growing regional cities in WA. Busselton Mayor Phill Cronin said phone and internet coverage had diminished in the area over the past five years, which he believed was due to inadequate telecommunications infrastructure. "I've heard sometimes they [telecommunications companies] are unable to put towers up because they can't get the power to the towers," he said. "It's a whole-of-infrastructure issue that really does need to be addressed." Cr Cronin said the council had received a number of reports from concerned residents about the issue. "We've seen unfortunately during some recent fires where one of the towers was down, the DFES emergency warnings weren't being sent out and people weren't even able to make triple-0 calls," he said. "That is a major concern for our community." The mayor said he had reached out to federal Communications Minister Michelle Rowland about the issue. "Communications is predominantly the responsibility of the federal [government], but the infrastructure is a state responsibility," he said. "If the area is expected to grow, and it will continue to grow, we need the infrastructure here in place before that can occur." Last month, South West councils voted to ask the WA Local Government Association (WALGA) to lobby the state and federal governments for improved telecommunication infrastructure. A state government spokesperson told the ABC they had continued to co-invest in projects which increased capacity and strengthened the resilience of telecommunications in regional businesses and communities. Ms Rowland was contacted for comment.
