Hi All,

Report from Australian IT below.  The obvious joke aside (further &
further behind), it's a bit sensationalist.  Your only talking about 7
minutes per base station per month above the target.  Then again,
that's probably a weighted average across all base stations anyway.

The other telcos (3 & Optus especially) must be loving all this
negative media attention on telstra!

Jason

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,10274990%5E15306%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html

Telstra mobile faults surge
James Riley
JULY 29, 2004  

SERVICE faults on Telstra's mobile networks are as much as one-third
higher than its internal targets, according to a leaked report.

Poorly documented repair procedures for base stations meant that
faults on Telstra's two mobile networks were taking longer to repair,
the confidential report found. High fault levels at base stations mean
more mobile phone blackouts for consumers.
The leaked report follows a similar document in March which showed
that faults on the Telstra fixed-line network had soared to a six-year
high.

Labor's communications spokesman Lindsay Tanner said the leaked report
demonstrated that the "same pattern of deteriorating service levels
that we are seeing in the fixed-line network is now starting to appear
in the mobile network".

The Supportability Review of Telstra's network of base stations across
Australia found that service outages on the company's primary mobile
network base stations were 25percent higher than targeted levels -
20.8 minutes per transmitter per month compared with an internal
target of 16 minutes.

Outages on its CDMA network, which is widely used in regional areas,
were about 33 per cent higher than the company had targeted - 27.8
minutes versus a target of 20.

The report, dated April 2004, found that on both networks the total
number of outages was higher than the previous month and had shown no
improvement over the previous three months.

It found that staff responsible for carrying out repairs -- especially
in regional areas -- urgently needed training. Telstra often did not
know about problems with mobile phone towers until a customer
complained, because the company no longer carried out proactive
maintenance testing.

"This leaked report provides further evidence that Telstra has taken
its eye off the ball in regards to its core telecommunications
functions," Mr Tanner said.

"Over the past few years, you've had a massive reduction in capital
expenditure (at Telstra) and a dramatic reduction in staff numbers, so
it would be surprising if there wasn't this kind of impact on service
levels."

Telstra spokesman Rod Bruem said Mr Tanner had taken the internal
service report out of context, and that there had been no cutbacks to
the maintenance of mobile phone towers. He said service levels within
the mobile networks were at all-time highs.