Optus outage sparks accountability as Triple Zero failures exposed
Right now, there’s a lot of attention on Optus after a long-awaited independent review laid bare what went wrong during the massive network outage in September, an outage that had devastating consequences. For nearly 14 hours, hundreds of Australians were left unable to reach Triple Zero, and that failure has been linked to two deaths. What was meant to be a routine network upgrade turned into a cascading breakdown that exposed serious weaknesses in how one of the country’s largest telcos operates when things go wrong.
According to the review, led by respected business and public sector figure Kerry Schott, widespread failures occurred across Optus and its contractor, Nokia. During the outage, around 75 per cent of emergency calls failed. Out of 605 attempts to dial Triple Zero, only a small fraction actually got through. It was found that as many as 10 critical mistakes were made during the upgrade, including incorrect instructions, outdated procedures being used, and a failure to divert call traffic before key equipment was locked down.
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What’s especially troubling is that warning signs were missed repeatedly. Alerts were triggered soon after the upgrade began, but they were given only cursory attention. Post-upgrade checks showed call failure rates increasing, yet no decisive action was taken. Even more concerning, five customers contacted Optus call centres to report they couldn’t reach Triple Zero, and those warnings were never escalated. A faster response, the report suggests, could have significantly reduced the impact of the outage.
The review described a lack of care and work discipline, along with siloed internal structures that prevented information from flowing properly within engineering teams. It was concluded that Optus’ network operations clearly failed, and that risk management and internal audit processes must be overhauled. Broader questions were also raised about the resilience of the Triple Zero system itself, especially as older 3G networks are shut down and newer devices behave inconsistently in emergencies.
In response, the Optus board has accepted all 21 recommendations from the review and agreed to move quickly on their implementation. Chairman John Arthur issued a public apology, saying the failures were unacceptable and that much more needed to be done. Importantly, the board has flagged serious consequences for individuals found responsible, ranging from financial penalties to possible termination.
Meanwhile, Optus’ chief executive has resisted calls to resign, with the board choosing instead to focus on systemic reform. Changes being pushed include moving operations onshore, improving staff training around incident escalation, and introducing better systems to track emergency call issues in real time.
As investigations by regulators and a Senate inquiry continue, confidence in the emergency call network has clearly been shaken. What happens next will be closely watched, not just for Optus, but for the entire telecommunications sector, because when Triple Zero fails, the stakes couldn’t be higher.
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