01 Nov 2023
Ensure your business is prepared for the Telstra holiday embargo period which includes Restricted Work and No Work periods across the Christmas and New Year holiday season.
When is the Telco Holiday Embargo Period for 2023-2024?
| Restricted Work | 14 to 19 December 2023 and 9 to 15 January 2023. |
| No Work Period | 20 December 2023 to 8 January 2023 inclusive. |
What is the Telco Embargo Period?
Every year the Australian telco industry observes an Embargo Period where all the carriers - Telstra, Optus, TPG, NBN - do not provision certain types of services, mainly in the fixed infrastructure and network space.
There are two stages to the embargo period.
| Restricted Work | Limited network and fixed line services available and may take longer than usual to complete. Mobile services available. |
| No Work Period | No network or fixed line services are provided. Limited mobile services. |
What services are impacted?
The Telco Holiday Embargo period primarily impacts fixed line and network services. The following services will be unavailable over the period.
| Internet Services | Fibre, NBN, or other broadband internet connections, cabling and connectivity are unable to be actioned. |
| Network Services | Relocations, reconfigurations, hardware or software upgrades; Adds, Moves and Changes to fixed lines. All unable to be actioned. |
| Voice Services | Provisioning of new hosted phones systems / VoIP, new numbers and porting of numbers from one carrier to another. Unable to be actioned. |
What services will continue during the Embargo Period?
Faults and mobile support do not have an embargo period however, on Public Holidays, carriers may only take instruction from a Corporate Authorised Representative as listed on the corporate contract. Corporate end users will be unable to obtain assistance.
| Faults | Fault restoration activity is exempt from the network embargo period and can be lodged as normal with service providers. |
| Mobile Services |
There is no embargo period for Mobile Services however delivery of some products may take longer than usual. For services on a corporate account, instructions will only be accepted from a company's Authorised Representative. Typical mobile services which continue throughout the holiday period are:
|
| Support |
Telstra provides a level of support during the telecommunications embargo window, however, they may be unable to action some requests, and response times may be delayed. MobileCorp customers will continue to receive full support across all telecommunications issues from our in-house Support Team during the Embargo Period, with the exception of public holidays. |
| Managed Services | MobileCorp continues to provide a full service across our Managed Mobility Service including Telstra Carriage Management, Telecom Expense Management, Telstra Enterprise Wireless Managed Service, Cradlepoint Managed Service, Access4 Managed Service, Managed IT, Managed Desktop, UEM and EMM, across the holiday period. |
What does this mean for Australian business?
The Holiday Embargo Period causes delays for many Telstra services especially for fixed line and network work.
Congestion typically begins towards mid-November, as Telstra begins processing a large influx of last minute orders. This congestion continues through December as Telstra processes the backlog of requests lodged prior to the commencement of the embargo.
Similarly, in the first half of January, there will continue to be delays as Telstra processes carry-over requests from the Embargo Period.
MobileCorp advises its customers to act early and communicate its December-January connectivity requirements in November so that our Support Team can manage around the Embargo Period and expedite requests.
What are the typical lead times for Telstra services?
To assist with planning, below is a list of typical lead times for telco services. Leading up to the Embargo Period, these timeframes can sometimes push out.
| Service Type Internet Connections | Lead Time |
| New NBN Internet Connections | 2 to 3 weeks |
| New Fibre and Broadband Internet Services (non NBN) | 1 to 3 months |
| New Voice Services and Fixed Voice Numbers including VoIP and SIP) | 1 to 2 weeks |
| New Mobile Broadband services | 1 to 5 days |
| 1300 and 1800 numbers | 1 to 5 days |
| Porting of Fixed Voice Numbers | 2 to 4 weeks |
| Porting of 1300 and 1800 numbers | 1 to 3 weeks |
| Porting of Internet Services | 2 weeks to 3 months |
| New Mobile Phone services | 1 to 5 days |
| Porting of Mobile Numbers | 1 to 3 weeks |
What should you do if you have a connectivity emergency during the holiday season?
MobileCorp customers can simply call us and we will action all requests, interacting with Telstra, providing communication about progress, and resolving to an outcome. The exception to this is the Public Holidays.
This is one advantage of working with a Telstra Partner managed service provider like MobileCorp is avoiding hours on the phone dealing directly with Telstra.
Additionally, customers who have an urgent telecommunications project or are looking at an office relocation over the November to January holiday period, should get in contact with the MobileCorp team on 1800 243 252 as soon as possible so we can walk you through the available options and lead times.
If you are a business who does not have a Telstra Partner aligned with your account and you have a mobile or fixed line emergency on a public holiday you can contact Telstra directly on the numbers below. However, unless it is a very simple request, there will be little that you can do to have it rectified as Telstra have limited services available and will also only take instruction from an official Nominated Representative as listed on Telstra account records.
Telstra Public Holiday Support
BUSINESS AND ENTERPRISE CUSTOMERS: Please note that Telstra will only take instructions from an AUTHORISED REPRESENTATIVE associated with your Corporate Account, as listed on Telstra records. End users will be unable to obtain assistance.
On Public Holidays and outside business hours, use the following contacts:
Telstra Enterprise Customers
- Service enquiries - 1300 835 787
- Billing and Faults - 1800 730 062
- IP Faults - 1800 467 889
Telstra Business Customers
- Service enquiries - 13 22 53
- Billing and Faults - 13 29 99
MobileCorp is open for customers, except for Public Holidays
MobileCorp is available to assist our valued customers throughout the holiday season with the exception of the Public Holidays
- Christmas Day
- Boxing Day
- New Year's Day
On week days which are not observed as Public Holidays, the MobileCorp support team is available during normal business hours, 8.30am-5pm.
About MobileCorp
MobileCorp is an enterprise ICT solutions company with a mission to deliver our customers a communications technology edge. We provide Managed Mobility Services, Enterprise Mobility Management, Complex Data and IP Networks, and Unified Communication solutions. We have a proven track record providing managed services for Australian enterprise and business, and we are a Telstra Platinum Partner.
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