The short version. If you have a home phone with us, it runs over your internet connection, so it stops working when the power goes out. If someone in your home is at particular risk and has no other way to call 111 in a power cut, we’ll supply a backup at no cost. Apply using the form below.
A WombatNET home phone runs over fibre, WombatWireless X or WombatWireless 4G+. All of these need mains power at your house for the router, the fibre box or the dish. When the power goes, so does the home phone. Some devices also stop:
Keep your mobile charged, and check you can make a call from inside the house. Plenty of rural homes have patchy coverage indoors.
You qualify as a vulnerable consumer under the 111 Contact Code if both of these are true:
It can be a permanent or temporary situation, such as recovering from surgery or a protection order. The person at risk doesn’t have to be the account holder.
To show you qualify, you can either send us evidence, such as a letter from a health practitioner or a copy of a protection order, or give us the details of someone who can confirm it for you, such as your GP, a registered social worker, a lawyer or a police officer.
We will never refuse or cut off your home phone because someone in your home is, or might become, a vulnerable consumer.
Fill in the 111 Contact Code application form below. It’s the form you use to ask us for a free backup. You can also download it as a PDF and email it to [email protected], or ask us to post you a copy or a large print version.
If a form isn’t easy for you, call us on 0800 424 281 and we’ll take your application over the phone, or someone can apply on your behalf.
Contact us first on 0800 424 281 or [email protected]. You can also contact the Commerce Commission at comcom.govt.nz.
