I went to the local Telstra shop this morning. No problems talking with them, and they checked the issue in their records, but said they couldn't offer a solution as it is a "broader network issue". They suggested I rang the complaint department.
I did that. Spoke to the usual suspect overseas... oh dear this was fun.

She told me that Telstra are working on it, and assured me I would have internet soon. I asked her what is Telstra's resolution in the meantime. Nothing but a promise. So I said I was going to escalate it, was losing productivity and revenue and I directly mentioned TIO.
She went away for 10 minutes (on THEIR coin since I demanded a call back). Told me Telstra will refund all of January. I said thank you, but this does not resolve the no connectivity issue, and could Telstra kindly supply a 3G dongle or 3G capable modem...5 minutes later, a flat No sir.
Hung up. Connected through my mobile data and lodged a TIO complaint.
Let's see how long until I get a dongle express posted to my door.