Geoff Helisma | Already suffering difficulties caused by an outage that affected eftpos and ATMs around Australia, Yamba suffered a double whammy when the main Telstra telecommunications cable that services the town was damaged just after midday on Saturday November 3. Most phone and internet services were cut for over 24 hours. The cable was repaired at around 2pm on Sunday. Many businesses were only able to accept cash payments. Some businesses, like Coles and BWS, were able to utilise etfpos back-up systems, where people with bank or credit cards could sign for their purchases. It’s likely that some businesses suffered financial losses or reduced trade as a result of the outage. Contractors working on the NBN at the corner of South Bank and Yamba Roads damaged the telecommunications cable while performing an under-bore of South Bank Road. The Independent made enquiries to Telstra, however, the corporation did not respond, as promised, in time to meet the paper’s deadline.