It is a horrible situation for very vulnerable people. I have an elderly friend who thought her modem was faulty. They don't know whether service will return or not or even if they can jump ship to another provider without being liable for breaking their contract.

The ONEseniors Face book page is the only way I know of getting updates on the situation but alas they have no internet.

No, not good enough. Have any others here tried Southern Phone? I have used them for a few years now and you can have either Telstra or Optus as the carrier. They also have some good plans for mobiles. We don't use their internet service as we only have satelite here at the moment. Depending on your home phone plan you can get a $100 a month free mobile service. You even talk to genuine Australians when you need to talk to them. A big plus for me.