A national outage for BigPond emails last week is the latest in a string of disruptions for residents and businesses in Nelson Bay and surrounding areas.

Problems related to service access, error messages and difficulties sending and receiving emails.

When asked at the time of the outage if it was in relation to the NBN rollout, 24-hour Telstra support technician John Dale could not confirm the reason and said it was under investigation by higher-level technicians.

Mr Dale said that Telstra posted updates online at servicestatus.telstra.com regarding service issues.

Anna Bay builder Todd O’Leary and his wife Kristy said the issues have been ongoing for some time.

“We’ve had problems for at least two months, and not only in relation to our emails,” he said.

“We constantly have to reset our modem. My daughter suffers regular Netflix withdrawals,” he joked.

On a more serious note, Mr O’Leary said the disruptions were bad for business.

“Kristy and I both run small businesses. Internet access is crucial for Kristy’s photography business and it has interrupted our online accounting systems, which affects productivity,” he said.

Anna Bay residents Elizabeth and Adam Howarth reported similar problems.

“We’ve had internet issues for at least two months with constant glitches and trouble with our emails,” Mrs Howarth said.

“Adam has recently started an excavation and landscaping business, LEED Civil, and being able to communicate with our customers means everything. This is really frustrating,” she said.

But for other residents, connection to the NBN has resolved their previous concerns.

Soldiers Point resident Murray O’Dea said his ADSL service was an issue, but connectivity is “all good” since he switched to the NBN.

Mr Dale apologised on behalf of Telstra for any inconvenience caused by the outage.

He said customers should go to servicestatus.telstra.com or contact the Telstra technical team on 133 933 for updates.

By Jo FINN