Southern Phone has today announced it will waive all internet, broadband, mobile and home phone usage fees and charges for thousands of customers, firefighters and SES volunteers involved in the bushfire disaster.

SPC CEO, David Joss, said the company will automatically credit more than 7,000 customer accounts across Australia.

“We are a community-focused company headquartered on the NSW South Coast, many of our employees and customers work and live in areas that have been devastated by these fires,” Mr Joss said.

“It has been heartbreaking to watch the scenes unfold in communities across the South Coast and right around the country.

“At the same time, we’ve been inspired by the heroic efforts of volunteer firefighters whose efforts have prevented further destruction and the tireless work of SES volunteers.

“As a way of supporting residents in these communities and our volunteers, we are automatically waiving service charges in January and providing a range of other services to assist.

“This will impact customers in all states, including 6,500 customers in New South Wales and around 600 customers in Victoria, crediting the service charges for January, back to the account.

“And for our customers who have experienced property loss, we will also waive their current bill including any accrued or outstanding costs.

“If your home service isn’t working due to damage, we provide free call diversion services to mobile or fixed lines. And we offer payment extension services for anyone experiencing financial hardship due to the fire disaster.

“As we can all appreciate, this has been a period of extreme phone and internet usage as families call loved ones, keep up to date and seek essential services.

“We hope that these measures provide some relief for our customers who have been impacted by this tragedy and our wonderful firefighter and SES volunteers who we have so much to thank for.

“Clearly, the rebuilding effort will take significant time and we will continue to provide support services to our customers as this process continues,” Mr Joss said.

About Southern Phone

Now a subsidiary of AGL, Southern Phone is a leading regional provider of fixed line, mobile and internet services to around 100,000 customers around the nation. The company is based in Moruya (NSW) and employs more than 135 staff.