General News
9 January, 2026
Telstra melts again in the heat
TELSTRA customers across Stawell and surrounding districts have experienced a second round of mobile phone disruptions during hot weather this week, despite assurances last week that earlier heat-related issues had been resolved. According to Telstra’s official outage tracker, a 4G mobile outage linked to a local power failure began at 5.03pm on Tuesday, January 6, impacting 3,115 services.
The outage lasted for about a day, with services listed as restored at 4.29pm on Wednesday.
The renewed disruption came just days after thousands of customers were affected by a similar outage late last month, which Telstra said was caused by high temperatures interfering with network equipment at a local site.
Following that earlier incident, Telstra told the Stawell Times-News the issue had been rectified after an air-conditioning technician attended the site, restoring cooling to critical infrastructure.
However, the recurrence of problems during another period of extreme heat has left many locals frustrated.
Several residents contacted the Stawell Times-News this week, questioning how resilient the local mobile network is during prolonged hot weather, particularly as high temperatures become more frequent during summer.
During the latest outage, customers again reported difficulty making calls, sending text messages and accessing mobile data.
Some said they relied on home internet connections and Wi-Fi calling to stay connected, while others without fixed broadband were left with limited options.
The outage also had flow-on effects for small businesses and services that rely heavily on mobile connectivity, including EFTPOS transactions, banking apps and remote communication.
Telstra’s outage page lists the cause as a “local power failure”, though no further detail has been provided about whether the failure was directly related to heat or infrastructure capacity.
Community members have noted that mobile reception issues appear to coincide increasingly with extreme weather events, raising broader concerns about the ability of regional telecommunications infrastructure to cope with rising temperatures and peak demand.
While Telstra advises customers to check the My Telstra app or website for personalised service updates, locals say the repeat outages underscore the importance of backup communication options, particularly during periods of elevated fire danger and emergency risk.
As services returned to normal on Wednesday afternoon, some residents said they were relieved but wary, with further hot days forecast.
For now, Telstra customers are being encouraged to monitor network status, use Wi-Fi calling where available, and report any ongoing issues directly to Telstra to help build a clearer picture of the scale and impact of the disruptions.
Read More: Stawell