INTERNET OUTAGE LASTED MORE THAN 24HRS, WILL AFFECTED USERS BE COMPENSATED?

Dear A.S.S. Editor

The internet outage at Jurong West which affected about 3,500 users was finally resolved at about 9pm last night. The outage happened when a third party contractor carrying out sheet piling works at Block 218D, Boon Lay Avenue, accidentally cut the cables affecting Internet connection, some phone lines and TV services.

The problem first surfaced on Tuesday at about 4:30pm, and was only fully restored on Wednesday night at around 9pm. So, I really don’t understand why the news outlets reported the outage as being about 23 hours or 24 hours. This clearly showed that the problem persisted for more than 24 hours!

Apart from individuals affected, some businesses were also affected, with some effectively having to stop their business for the day altogether. While this is clearly not the fault of the telcos in Singapore, but who is going to pay for loss business revenue of at least one day? IMDA is currently investigating the incident. Hopefully, affected users can be adequately compensated.

Ali Ashraf

A.S.S. Contributor