Just received - similar to Vodafone's announcement but with not so much data:

 

Keeping Spark broadband customers connected

 

Copper lines (which deliver ADSL/VDSL broadband and PSTN voice) are an aging technology managed by Chorus that are prone to faults. Spark saw copper faults become far more common in the winter months due to the wet weather – and spoke to many thousands of customers who were frustrated that their copper broadband and landlines were not working.

 

To help out customers experiencing a frustrating broadband or landline fault, Spark has been deploying a Spark Restore Kit for the last couple of months, to let them know when their copper or fibre has a fault – and to help them stay online while it is being fixed.

 

Jason Paris, CEO of Spark Home Mobile and Business explains, “It’s frustrating when your broadband or landline stops working. We wanted to provide a quick and easy way for our customers to stay connected while we are working with the network provider to fix the fault.”

 

“We piloted this service in late July. Since it has been in full operation, it has been offered to thousands of customers affected by 23 recorded faults right around New Zealand, 20 of which were copper faults. As a result, a number of our customers stayed connected while the fault was ongoing.”

 

When Spark is alerted to a fault that looks like it’s going to take more than a couple of hours for the network provider to fix, and affects a group of customers, Spark sends a text to the affected customers. This lets the customers know that Spark is aware of a fault affecting their broadband and/ or landline – and is working with the network provider who manages the line to get it fixed.

 

The text also includes the option to text reply ‘Yes’ and receive a 20GB mobile data bundle to the Spark mobile number attached to their account. This data bundle means they can get back online immediately and stay connected. It’s intended as a service to keep them connected for the duration of the fault. There is also the option for landline customers to have calls diverted from their landline to their mobile number and for those customers with Spark mobiles to receive free national calling. Once the fault is resolved, the customer receives a final text message confirming that the fault is fixed and that any landline divert has been removed.

 

If a customer experiences a copper or fibre broadband/ voice fault and has not received a text message update, they can still contact Spark through any of our customer service channels – and have an additional mobile data bundle and free national calling applied to their Spark mobile account and a free call divert applied for the duration of the fault.