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I am writing with a further update from Gen-i and Telecom on our work to support the people of Canterbury by maintaining and restoring ICT and telecommunications services in the region.

A big priority has been making sure all our people and their families are safe, and we’ve accounted for all our folk right across the Telecom Group.  Like many of you, we have people seriously affected and we’re doing everything we can to support them and their families.

Our focus remains on supporting emergency services, civil defence, health and safety and government agencies as they mobilise people and resources in Christchurch to lead and support the rescue effort.  Our team on the ground and across Australasia is working around the clock to provide every support possible.

As the needs of the emergency service providers are being sustainably met, we’ve started to work with core service providers, such as banks, roading, construction, airlines and transport companies, to maintain other essential communications services in the region. 

The event has created unprecedented high levels of demand for changes to our clients’ services, and we are running all our key processes with Business Continuity plans. We are increasing resources to ensure we meet the needs of our clients outside the Canterbury region.  Most client service desks are currently running at 75% of capacity, and this will improve by early next week.

For the clients with immediate needs not related to the Canterbury earthquake, we’d like to ask for your patience over the next few days as we adjust and expand our resources and systems to meet the overall increase in demand for our services.  We are committed to ensuring we meet your needs and we’re focussed on not letting you down. 

We are also continuing to monitor our clients’ needs in Christchurch and are assembling a forecast of requirements that we anticipate will surface in the coming days and weeks as more commercial businesses starts to resume operations.  Our service delivery teams are ready to extend their support as the needs of our clients change day to day.

The current situation for Gen-i and Telecom IT and communication services in Canterbury is as follows:

• The state of Telecom’s network has improved overnight with the continued restoration of mains power. All Telecom exchanges are operational with a combination of mains and generated power, as are the majority of mobile sites. Overall the Telecom network is up and working, and the focus will now move from sustaining the core network to diagnosing and restoring localised faults.  Telecom’s 60 generators continue to provide backup power to network sites still without mains power
• Our two Christchurch data centres in Hillmorton and Hereford Street are running on Business Continuity plans and remain operable. Our ICT Operations teams are monitoring the two sites closely, with temperature and humidity levels stable.  Access to our 109 Hereford Street site is restricted, due to the police cordon around the CBD for public safety and nearby Grand Chancellor Hotel in danger of collapse. Our generators are well fuelled to sustain service for a long period of time and we are working with clients to maintain services remotely
• In addition to on-the-ground technical field force teams, we are sourcing and deploying ICT equipment such as servers, laptops, mobile devices and accessories.  We have shipped additional IT equipment to Christchurch and are now holding increased stock levels to help restore ICT services for clients
• For some clients, we're relocating their infrastructure to Gen-i data centres or alternative client sites around the country, and keeping our clients’ businesses connected via our managed voice and data services, which are performing well
• Many clients are using our cloud solutions for virtual compute and storage, email and internet security.  We're also helping clients with contact centres to divert calls to service desks in other parts of the country, and are providing services that allow clients to maintain voice communications as they work remotely through our Gen-i Mobile Office (GMO) service. 

For updates
If there is anything more that we can do to support your business and your people during this time, please contact your Client Manager, myself or your normal service contacts at our MCC.  Alternatively, please visit www.gen-i.co.nz, www.telecom.co.nz, as well as @Geni_ICT or @chrisjquin on Twitter and Facebook for further updates.

A friend once shared a quote with me that said: “We are never upset about what is, we are upset about what is not.”  I guess it’s about not being able to change what happened and reflecting on what we miss; people, places and the great city Christchurch is to live, work and play.  We will all see it be one of our favourite Kiwi places again and we will be with Christchurch every step of the way back.

Kia kaha

Chris Quin
CEO Gen-i Australasia