Telstra mobile outage affects check-ins on first day of Byron Bay lockdown

On the first day of the Northern Rivers lockdown, most of the Byron Shire was unable to use check-in facilities in the Service NSW app.

The map of the areas affected by the Telstra outage in pink, according to the Telstra outages website.

Update 5pm: A Telstra spokesperson said the disruption in mobile service on Tuesday has been rectified in Byron Bay.

“There was a small, unplanned disruption at our Acacia St site which impacted our mobile network in this area for a short period of time this morning,” the spokesperson said.

“We’ve restored mobile services and we’re now monitoring the network for performance now.”

“There was no impact to our surrounding mobile sites which remained on air.”

Original story: On the first day of the Northern Rivers lockdown, most of the Byron Shire was unable to use check-in facilities in the Service NSW app.

The QR codes were up and the phones were charged, but when Byron Bay residents tried to check in, they received a message asking them to check on their Wi-Fi.

The message Byron Bay residents were receiving when trying to check in at venues on the Service NSW app on Tuesday, August 10, 2021.

A planned Telstra outage left Byron Shire residents unable to comply with the digital check in, so many businesses had to resort to paper lists.

The Telstra outages website showed a number of areas affected in pink on Tuesday with mobile services interrupted.

Information on the site confirmed they were planned maintenance works.

By noon, the date and time for the service to be restored was showing on the site as “to be confirmed”.

A business owner who requested not to be identified said to be very frustrated with the issue.

“I know there must be a good reason for this, but it just adds to a week where business owners in Byron Bay don’t need any further obstacles to operate,” she said.

“This just makes people more anxious and adds to the time they are out of the house, which is the opposite of what we need right now.”

Telstra has been contacted for comment.