In the early hours of Saturday morning, at 3:42am, an unexpected power supply issue occurred at our Aroa station, resulting in a widespread service disruption affecting a significant number of Vodafone customers. The incident impacted both mobile and landline services, as well as internet connectivity across Rarotonga and the Pa Enua. Several major business operations were also affected.
Our technical team was able to restore mobile voice and SMS services at approximately 7:00AM. Mobile data was later restored. The process was exceptionally challenging due to the complexity of the power outage and the unexpected failure of our backup systems designed to maintain power continuity. In specific areas, landline calling services were gradually restored throughout Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning.
During the challenging process of restoring mobile data services, we understand the inconvenience caused to our valued customers. In consideration, we allowed users to access mobile data free of charge while our technical teams worked to resolve the issue.
Te Aponga Uira (TAU) was able to carry out an inspection of the power load at our Aroa station on Saturday morning and urgent remedial action will be taken by Vodafone to have an upgraded power cable feed installed. As additional services have been added to the station, this has increased the power load, which we believe may have caused the unexpected incident on Saturday morning. Vodafone recently commissioned a 30KW solar array to carry some of the increased load.
While our technical team who worked over the weekend to restore services we acknowledge the prompt response by TAU to the power situation. While services have not yet fully restored, our team is resolving any remaining issues and closely monitoring the situation. We understand the inconvenience caused and appreciate the patience and cooperation of our customers during this service interruption..
As Vodafone continues to work towards complete restoration, we assure you that your communication needs remain our top priority.
For further information and enquiries, please contact us on 123 or email us on info@vodafone.co.ck
ENDS