Network Outage Communications Policy

Purpose

This policy explains how Digital Soul Australia (Digital Soul) communicates with customers during unplanned network outages, consistent with the Telecommunications (Customer Communications for Outages) Industry Standard 2024. Our networks serve regional and remote communities where connectivity matters most, and keeping you informed during an outage is part of the service.

What counts as an outage under this policy

• Major outage: an unplanned adverse event affecting 100,000 or more services, or all services in a state or territory, for more than 60 minutes.
• Significant local outage: an unplanned outage affecting 250 or more services in remote Australia for 3 or more hours, or 1,000 or more services in regional Australia for 6 or more hours.
• Local outage: any other unplanned outage affecting a Digital Soul network or site. The Standard's obligations apply to major and significant local outages; as a community-focused provider we aim to communicate about local outages in the same way wherever practical.

Digital Soul plays two parts. On our own fixed wireless networks we are the carrier that owns the network, and we determine when a significant local outage has occurred and notify any providers who supply services over our infrastructure. On an nbn service we are your retail provider and nbn co owns the network, so we pass on what the network operator tells us and chase it on your behalf. This policy covers both, and the sections below say which part applies where.

How we tell you

• Service status page: current status for each of our networks, including the Dumbleyung network and the Gnowangerup network, is published at digitalsoulaustralia.com.au/status, with incident updates as they happen.
• Direct notification: where an outage affects your service we email you. If your service runs on another provider's network, a notice also appears on your service in My Account while that operator has the outage open.
• Community channels: for outages affecting a whole community we also use local channels, including shire and community pages for the affected network's district.

Our updates identify what is affected, the known or suspected cause, the estimated time to fix where known, how to seek updates or assistance, and anything you can do in the meantime. We write updates in plain language and can provide information in accessible formats on request, including via the National Relay Service and interpreter services.

When we tell you

• Initial notification as soon as practicable after we identify a major or significant local outage.
• Updates on the service status page at least every 6 hours for the first 24 hours of a major outage or a significant local outage, and at least every 24 hours after that, for the duration of the outage. For a local outage we update as the position changes and at least once a day.
• Material changes to the outage (scale, cause or expected restoration) are notified promptly.
• Restoration: we tell you promptly when services are restored.

If your service runs on another provider's network

Your nbn service runs on nbn co's network, not ours. We are your retail provider, and when there is a major outage or a significant local outage on a network we use to supply your service, this is what we do.

• We find out from the network operator, through our wholesale provider. We have a nominated contact with our wholesale provider for outage and maintenance notices, and we check the network operator's own outage information for your service.
• We tell you the same way we would for our own network. Where we are notified of an outage on a network we use, we publish it on our service status page and we email the customers we can see are affected. If your service runs on nbn co's network, a notice also appears on your service in My Account while the network operator has the outage open.
• We tell you what we know and what we do not. That includes who owns the network, what they have said, an estimated restoration time if the network operator has given one, and what we are doing to chase it.
• We keep chasing it. We raise and escalate a fault with our wholesale provider and the network operator, and we tell you what comes back, whether or not it is good news.
• What we cannot do. We cannot restore a network we do not own, and we cannot commit to a restoration time the network operator has not given us. We will not guess one.

We do not monitor nbn co's network ourselves. Where a network operator publishes its own outage information, it is the authoritative source for that network and you can read it directly. nbn co publishes a register of its major and significant local outages at nbn's major and significant local outages register, and sets out its own communication process at nbn's communication process for major outages.

Planned maintenance

Planned maintenance is different from an unplanned outage: we schedule it to minimise disruption, and notify affected customers in advance. Where Digital Soul plans maintenance on a network we own, the window also appears on the service status page.

Natural disasters and emergencies

Where an outage is caused by a natural disaster or a declared emergency, restoration and safety take priority and our communications may rely on emergency broadcasters and local authorities alongside the channels above.

Getting help urgently during a major outage

During a major outage or a significant local outage, here is how to reach us and where the current position is published.

• A notice at the top of the service status page carrying the current position and the time we last updated it. We put it there and keep it current whether or not you have contacted us, at least every 6 hours for the first 24 hours and at least every 24 hours after that, for the duration of the outage. It is the fastest place to find out what is happening.
• Message us from My Account. We read messages in the order they arrive, within one business day as usual. A message marked URGENT OUTAGE is answered ahead of the ordinary queue. The service status page carries the current position on a declared outage, so you do not need to wait on a reply to know what is happening. Tell us your service address and what has stopped working.
• Email enquiries@digitalsoulaustralia.com.au if you cannot sign in. Put "URGENT OUTAGE" in the subject line and it is treated the same way as a message in My Account.
• Phone 08 9516 0603, Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm AWST. Outside those hours the line is not attended. During an outage, writing to us reaches us sooner than a call either way, because the written channels above are the queue we work from, and the current position is on the status page whether you have contacted us or not.
• If you or someone with you is in danger, call 000 from a mobile phone or a phone on another network. A Digital Soul data service cannot carry a call to 000 at any time, outage or not.

How to report an outage or ask us about one

You can use any of these contacts to report a service outage, or to ask us about a network outage.

How to reach us	Where	When it is attended
My Account	digitalsoulaustralia.com.au/account/support	Open at any time
Email	enquiries@digitalsoulaustralia.com.au	Open at any time
Post	PO Box 2169, Ellenbrook WA 6069	Open at any time
Phone	08 9516 0603	Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm AWST, excluding Western Australian public holidays

If you are deaf or have difficulty hearing or speaking, you can reach us through the National Relay Service and then ask for 08 9516 0603. The relay numbers are listed in our Complaints handling process.

If you rely on the connection

If your household or your business relies on the connection, tell us in writing. Message us from My Account, or email enquiries@digitalsoulaustralia.com.au if you do not have an account, and tell us again if that changes. We keep it with your account record so the person handling your service can see it.

Complaints about outages

You can complain about a loss of service during an outage at any time; our Complaints handling process has a dedicated network outage complaints process. A power outage at your premises will also stop your service, and this service cannot be used to call emergency services at any time. See your plan's Critical Information Summary for backup power and for what we can and cannot offer if someone at your premises relies on a medical alarm or Priority Assistance.

Seeking updates or assistance

Message us from My Account · Email enquiries@digitalsoulaustralia.com.au · Service status · Phone 08 9516 0603 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm AWST)