Optus fined $12 million for triple-zero service breakdown
Optus has been hit with a $12 million fine for failing to connect more than 2000 people to emergency services during the telco's national outage last year.
On November 8, 2023, a routine software upgrade to Optus' mobile network triggered an outage for millions of the company's customers.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) announced this week the telco had failed to provide access to the emergency call triple-zero service for 2145 people during the 14-hour outage.
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Optus has been fined $12 million for failng to connect more than 2000 customers with emergency services during last year's network outage. AP Photo/Mark Baker
Optus also did not conduct 369 welfare checks on people who had tried to make an emergency call.
The failures led to the telco being landed with a $12 million fine, the watchdog said.
ACMA chair Nerida O'Loughlin said that Optus failed in the management of its network and that the outage should have been preventable.
"Triple zero availability is the most fundamental service telcos must provide to the public," she said.
"When an emergency call fails to connect there can be devastating consequences for public health and safety."
The federal government launched a review, separate to the ACMA inquiry, into the outage that found other failings by Optus.
It led to new industry standards, including the requirement of better communications by telcos with their customers and other stakeholders during an outage and greater oversight of the triple-zero network.
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