Internet outage impacts business

LAST week’s internet and mobile phone service outage in Balranald had a severe impact on service delivery, according to local business operators.

Balranald Shire Council general manager Chris Littlemore reported on Friday that the three-day disruption had been caused by deterioration in optic fibre cabling.

While services were up and running again as of Monday, some local businesses and organisations told The Guardian that the outage caused significant disruptions to service delivery.

Balranald Inc community development and events manager Connie Mallet said a major funding application for its Indigenous art initiative had looked like it would miss its deadline due to the service disruption.

Ms Mallet said because the expansive application had been divided between members, collating the different components became a serious issue.

“Not everyone is local, so it became a bit nightmarish,” she said.

Fortunately, Regional Development Australia’s Murray branch threw Balranald Inc a lifeline and granted an extension until today for its application.

“Relief would be an understatement,” Ms Mallet said.

Elsewhere, Mary Grisdale from LV Bodinnar said the business had been unable to process transactions normally because of the outage.

For more on this story, see Wednesday’s edition of The
Guardian (06/02/13).