Australian telecom giant Optus has experienced a significant network outage, impacting thousands of people in New South Wales and preventing calls to emergency services for over nine hours. This incident occurs just over a week after a similar interruption that has been linked to four deaths. Optus, one of Australia’s leading telecom providers, confirmed that all callers who attempted to contact emergency services during the outage are safe, according to police.
The company is currently investigating the cause of the outage, which affected thousands of people on Sunday. This latest incident follows another outage earlier this month that impacted 600 people across South Australia, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory for at least 10 hours. The earlier outage has been linked to four deaths and prevented calls to emergency services.
Australian Finance Minister Katy Gallagher expressed disappointment at the latest incident, stating that Optus needs to answer questions about the outages and their response. The opposition communications spokeswoman, Melissa McIntosh, described the interruptions as “extraordinary” and emphasized the need for confidence in the country’s emergency services hotline, triple-0.
The National Broadband Network also experienced an outage in Western Australia on Friday, impacting customers’ ability to make emergency calls, according to police. Optus has been fined $66 million for selling unnecessary products to vulnerable customers between 2019 and 2023, leaving many in debt. The company was also fined $7.9 million for a previous outage that halted its mobile and internet systems for nearly 12 hours in 2023.
Last week, Optus announced an independent review to probe the series of events surrounding the earlier outage and determine why emergency calls did not connect. The review aims to identify the cause of the outage and prevent similar incidents in the future. The Australian government and regulatory bodies are likely to closely monitor the situation and Optus’s response to ensure the reliability and integrity of the country’s emergency services.
