Australia’s Optus apologises for outage that disrupted emergency calls

Optus, Australia's second-largest telecom provider, issued an apology on Saturday following a network outage that disrupted services over three states and interfered with emergency call systems. The 76-minute technical issue on Friday impacted voice calling in parts of Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, and the Northern Territory. Some customers encountered intermittent call dropouts, according to Optus' statement. The company expressed its sincere regret for the disruption.

This latest outage comes after a similar issue last year, which left hundreds of people unable to reach police, fire, and ambulance services, leading to two fatalities. Chris Bowen, a senior government minister, called the recent incident deeply concerning, emphasizing the critical obligation for telecom companies to maintain optimal working conditions for emergency call technology.

Following the Friday outage, police in Victoria conducted approximately 40 welfare checks on affected callers, with no adverse outcomes reported. In 2024, Optus, owned by Singapore Telecommunications, faced a fine of A$12 million for failing to provide emergency services during a nationwide outage the previous year. Additionally, in 2022, the company experienced a cyberattack that impacted the data of around 9.5 million Australians.