Optus has had two critical triple-0 outages in as many weeks, with some failed emergency calls resulting in deaths. Photo: File.
The Federal Government has ordered Optus to engage independent external investigators to determine the cause of its triple-0 failures, following two deadly system breakdowns in a fortnight.
The latest mobile phone outage at a tower in Dapto, near Wollongong, affected 4500 people and blocked coverage between 3 am and 12:20 pm on Sunday (28 September), resulting in nine failed triple-0 calls.
Those failed calls were from people needing an ambulance, emergency services and police welfare checks, as well as two accidental triple-0 calls.
However, while Optus has reported that all those callers are “OK”, the same can’t be said for the outage 10 days earlier, which affected people in Western Australia, South Australia, the Northern Territory, and parts of NSW near the SA border.
Several deaths have been linked to that failure after people could not call triple-0 on their phones.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has launched an investigation, but Communications Minister Anika Wells has also ordered Optus and its Singaporean parent company Singtel to have the telco’s systems reviewed.
She met on Tuesday with Singtel’s CEO Yuen Kuan Moon, Optus chief executive Stephen Rue, and Optus chair John Arthur to tell them a triple-0 outage on their network “must never happen again”.
“Optus and all telecommunications providers have legal obligations under Australian law to make sure calls to emergency services go through. As the parent company of Optus, Singtel is also accountable,” the minister said.
“I have requested that Optus employ external advisors to independently assess the company’s network plans to provide confidence to ACMA and the Australian Government that these problems will not recur.
“The Australian Government has directed ACMA to investigate, and I reiterated to Optus and Singtel that they must be fully transparent as part of this process.
“We have made clear that Optus is accountable for what happened, and Optus needs to take full responsibility for its obligations to the community.”
Optus chair John Arthur said the company was committed to working with the government and adhering to its instructions.
“We are always welcome to external perspectives and external views, and that remains the case here,” he told reporters.
“I’m not in a position to talk about the specifics because we have just come from the minister’s office, but we will be working with the government to do what is required.”
Ms Wells said Australians had lost confidence in Optus’s ability to deliver triple-0 services.
“No one is shying away from the fact that Optus has not complied with their obligations to the Australian people, and that is what needs to be fixed here,” Ms Wells said.
“I think Optus accepts that this is a compliance issue on their part.”
The minister made a point of telling the media that she is new to the role.
There was no suggestion that Mr Rue, who is also relatively new, would resign as Optus CEO.
Shadow Communications Minister Melissa McIntosh said Ms Wells should be familiar with her brief and not use the excuse of being a new minister for failing to act sooner.
“Australians need a Communications Minister who is laser-focused on solving this Triple Zero crisis,” Ms McIntosh said.
“The minister said this morning she’s still new to the job, but it’s been almost five months since she was sworn in.
“The minister needs to put Australians first and sort out this triple-0 disaster … The lacklustre performance by the Communications Minister this morning speaks volumes about what action she has been taking on this incredibly important issue.”
The Greens’ communications spokesperson, Sarah Hanson-Young, has backed a wide-ranging triple-0 inquiry.
She has also called for a review of Optus’s licence and independent oversight of its operations.
“It is not acceptable that this basic access to health is failing and isn’t there for hundreds of people,” Senator Hanson-Young said on Monday.
“This is not good enough at all. I urge the minister to stop fobbing this off to the regulator and use the powers you’ve got.”
ACMA has previously investigated Optus following a nationwide outage in 2023.
