Telstra hangs up on development

NOT HAPPY: Developer Manos Saridakis is unhappy Telstra has not put in enough phone lines in his building in Goodna, which is costing him $30,000 a month.

Rob Williams

AN IPSWICH developer says he will lose thousands of dollars after Telstra allegedly installed only a fraction of the phone lines needed for his new commercial property.

Manos Saridakis, who recently finished constructing a $3 million commercial building at 12 Queen Street in Goodna, said he asked Telstra for 200 telephone cable pairs.

But Mr Saridakis claimed Telstra had only installed 10 when at least 20 pairs were needed for an average office.

He estimated by the time the remaining cable pairs were installed, which Telstra said would be early April, he would have lost about $30,000 in rent.

He said the lack of phone lines was the only hurdle stopping businesses from opening at the site.

“I have tenants who are moving here from other premises, so for them it means they’re paying more rent to the site they’re at now and I’m missing out,” Mr Saridakis.

“They are in a situation where the furniture and everything else is already in there, so it’s just as frustrating for them as it is for me.

“I can’t charge full rent on the offices if they don’t have phone lines, so I’ll be losing money while I wait for Telstra to sort out this mess.”

Tenants already signed up at the site include the Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service, Boystown, Ladybird Finance and The Coffee Club.

Goodna Councillor Paul Tully said Mr Saridakis’ experience showed Telstra treated Ipswich residents as second class citizens.

“Telstra is not catching up with development in Ipswich, and examples like this show what effect their failures can have on a development,” Cr Tully said.

Telstra Country Wide Area general manager Nigel Beaman said he was investigating the complaint, but said his initial inquiries found confusion over the location of a power supply trench could have caused the problem.

He said Telstra usually laid their cables in the same trench, but their records showed the location of the proposed trench had moved several times during construction.