An internet infrastructure operator has been “put on notice” over a series of long outages that have left several residential estates without connectivity for entire weekends.
Adam Jacobson, a resident of Ocean’s Edge estate in Palm Cove in Far North Queensland, said he had not experienced any troubles with his high-speed fibre-optic connection until Opticomm took over the fibre-to-the-home network in the estate from Telstra’s Velocity network last March.
Opticomm is the sole operator of fibre-optic cable in certain neighbourhoods where residents have no alternative — other than mobile or satellite connections.
However, Opticomm is a wholesaler, not an internet service provider, so affected residents must complain about outages to the company they buy internet from.
Mr Jacobson is concerned about Opticomm’s network performance. (ABC Far North: Christopher Testa)
Mr Jacobson said his neighbourhood experienced several unplanned outages since April last year, lasting 16 hours on average.
“We have outages for up to 36 hours sometimes so that’s quite a challenge for anybody trying to run a business or entertain children during school holidays,” Mr Jacobson said.
“In my case, I’ve had important meetings where I’ve had to quickly swap over to hotspot on my phone, which is not the most professional look.”
Leonie Barber, a vision impaired Smithfield resident, said she had reluctantly changed her fibre-optic connection to a more expensive Starlink satellite service.
“Because of my condition, I am very reliant, to avoid being socially isolated, on the internet,” she said.
Ms Barber said the Opticomm service outages meant she had missed online meetings hosted by Vision Australia, and she feared lengthy dropouts could be dangerous during the northern cyclone season.
“Here we are, in this particular time of year where these services are so vital,” she said.
Opticomm ‘awaiting results’ of Telstra study
While Opticomm owns and runs the fibre-optic network to homes in certain residential areas, it relies on the broader Telstra network for “backhaul” to keep homes connected to the internet.
Opticomm said 11 of its 15 outages in Far North Queensland since April 2024 were caused by cuts to fibre-optic cable in the Telstra network, including by vandals trying to steal copper.
When fibre-to-the-home works, it’s faster than satellite alternatives. (ABC Far North: Christopher Testa)
A further two outages were due to local power cuts on the Telstra transmission network, and two were attributed to a local power outage in the Trinity Beach area.
Opticomm chief of infrastructure networks and technology Geoff Aldridge said the company had spent months looking at ways to make its network more resilient.
Mr Aldridge said Opticomm had been “awaiting results of a feasibility study from Telstra … for some months now”.
Telstra declined to comment on that study for commercial reasons.
Opticomm is a broadband wholesaler that operates in particular estates. (Unsplash: Jay Wennington)
Mr Jacobson said Opticomm should not have been able to take over infrastructure in residential estates without a reliable backup connection in place.
“If there was a redundant link, then 13 out of those 15 [outages] could’ve been avoided — it’s as simple as that,” he said.
“I’m glad to hear there’s been some action being taken on the issue, but it does raise the question of why you would go live with a consumer network without any redundant links in the first place.”
Regulator ‘closely monitoring’ issue
Queensland senator Nita Green said her office had received “many complaints” about Opticomm outages for six months.
“But particularly just before Christmas, there seems to have been a real fault which affected hundreds of people in the northern beaches [of Cairns],” she said.
She said the problems had been compounded by Opticomm being difficult to contact, and residents having to contact their individual internet service providers.
“I have put Opticomm on notice that it’s unacceptable the way these residents have been treated and they really need to make sure this is resolved,” Senator Green said.
This Cairns estate relies on Opticomm internet infrastructure. (ABC Far North: Christopher Testa)
The Australian Communications and Media Authority said it was aware of the issues.
“The ACMA is closely monitoring this situation and where the ACMA has evidence or suspects non-compliance with the SIP [statutory infrastructure provider] requirements, it will commence an investigation.”
Senator Green said the onus was also on local councils, state and federal government to “make sure people have access to good services they deserve” when approving and funding new housing estates.
“I think we need to think about trunk infrastructure the same way we think about access to electricity and sewerage when we’re setting up housing developments,” she said.
