Telstra says it's now taking steps to relax the timeframe for the payment of telephone bills belonging to customers devastated by the northern New South Wales floods.
The telco is also providing emergency satellite telephones, expanding its CDMA and GSM mobile capacity and co-ordinating the deployment of staff to the region as part of a wider disaster plan.
Staff are also working to minimise damage to Telstra infrastructure.
The floods have disrupted power supplies and damaged exchanges, cables and other telecommunications equipment, hitting at least two and a half thousand telephone services in the region.
Telstra Country Wide Area General Manager for the Mid North Coast, Jim Atkins, said although the task of restoration was a long way from completion, an emergency plan to reduce the impact of the floods on telecommunications services was working.
"Some 276 local staff have been working around the clock, along with other emergency services," Atkins said in a statement.
"Road closures, bridge cuts and creek washaways make accessing many areas difficult, delaying repairs to some services. We are doing everything possible to restore all services we can reach.
"An emergency taskforce of 52 staff, assembled from as far away as Tasmania, is being progressively deployed as the water recedes."
Telstra says in one case, a technician travelled 15 kilometres down the swollen Clarence River, then trekked two kilometres up a mountain to a radio tower to ensure vital mobile phone services were available.
The telco says it's now taking steps to provide relief for bill payments to ease the financial pressure on businesses and customers hit by the floods.
