Hindmarsh Island, Goolwa’s Telstra, Optus outage to last until at least Sunday

It’s been six days since either major telco has done its job for the popular SA region. But at least they’ve revealed when they plan to fix the outage.

Mobile phone coverage has been down at a popular holiday location south of Adelaide for days – and isn’t likely to be fully restored until early December.

Both Telstra and Optus customers in the popular Fleurieu Peninsula destinations of Goolwa and nearby Hindmarsh Island have been impacted with one long-time businesswoman calling on the teleco giants to “get their shite together”.

Paul Smith, who lives at Coorong Quays on Hindmarsh Island, said he had not been able make a call on his mobile at home since 7am on Monday.

Instead, the Telstra customer has had to get in his car, drive over the Hindmarsh Island Bridge, to search for coverage in Goolwa, which is several kilometres away.

The 71-year-old former Angaston businessman who retired with his wife Irene to the island a decade ago, says the phone service glitch which he wasn’t forewarned about has left the couple feeling “vulnerable”.

“We’ve been travelling between Goolwa and Victor Harbor to try and pick up a signal to allow us to make phone calls regarding medical appointments next week in Adelaide,” he said.

“It would be particularly stressful if you were on your own … or didn’t have the ability to the check the website.

“It is just a pity communication is so bad, given the business they are in … I’ve a friend with Optus who said he was provided a heads-up via text message; other utilities – such as power and water providers – give very reliable closure notices and stick to it.”

Hindmarsh Island resident Paul Smith has not been able to make a call on his mobile from his home, since Monday. Picture: supplied

Business owners across Goolwa, including pharmacists, cafe owners and food retailers, yesterday also expressed frustration over the service disruption which had disabled EFTPOS machines during the week.

Denise McKendry, who has run fashion and homewares store Chantillie Place in the main street for the past 30 years, said: “Wednesday I couldn’t use EFTPOS at all … Thursday was intermittent and Friday a bit hit and miss,” she said.

“Most customers were good and just said, ‘Oh, bloody Telstra, if it’s not Optus it is Telstra’ … a few said they’d weren’t prepared to pay the surcharge to get cash out of the ATM and that’s OK, I get it.”

Chantillie Place Goolwa is one of the businesses that has been affected by mobile phone outages. Picture: Google Maps

Ms McKendry has called on the providers to “get their shite together” ahead of the busy summer period.

“Money is tough at the moment and we’ve got to take it while it is going … it will be really hard if this happens in a few weeks when peak season starts,” she said.

A Telstra spokeswoman said its mobile site which serves Goolwa and Hindmarsh Island – and is also used by Optus – was undergoing an upgrade to “5G” and had experienced “some complications” but that customers should have received notification.

“We’re working to get things sorted as quickly as possible and we expect service to be restored on Monday,” she said.

However, an Optus spokesman said its customers could expect the “disruption to be intermittent up until” 5pm next Sunday, December 3, apologising for any inconvenience.

“Optus regularly sends out SMS’ to customers during planned upgrades to keep them up to date,” he said.