Australia fines Singtel-owned Optus A$12M for failing emergency call services during 2023 outage

AUSTRALIA: Australia’s telecommunications watchdog has fined Optus, a Singtel subsidiary, A$12 million (approximately US$7.98 million) after the telecom provider failed to provide emergency call services during a massive network outage in November 2023.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) announced the fine on Friday (8 November), highlighting that over 2,100 customers were unable to reach triple-zero emergency services during the outage.

The network failure left millions of Australians without phone and internet connectivity, with widespread disruptions across households and businesses that lasted for nearly 14 hours.

The ACMA’s investigation found that Optus’s network mismanagement not only prevented emergency calls from reaching first responders but also resulted in a failure to conduct 369 welfare checks on individuals who had attempted to make emergency calls during the outage.

ACMA chair Nerida O’Loughlin emphasised the critical nature of emergency services, stating that reliable access to triple-zero is the most fundamental service that telecom providers must offer.

“When an emergency call fails to connect, there can be devastating consequences for public health and safety,” O’Loughlin stated, adding that Optus’s handling of its network could have prevented the outage.

A Senate committee examining the incident criticised Optus for inadequate communication during the crisis. The committee recommended new measures to mandate telcos to promptly inform government bodies, emergency services, and the public during national outages.

In response, ACMA is developing an industry standard to enforce a minimum level of customer communication during such events.

The government has endorsed a suite of regulatory actions aimed at reinforcing the entire telecommunications sector’s performance in handling emergency calls during outages.

Proposed measures include heightened oversight of the triple-zero system and mandates for cross-carrier support, allowing other providers to carry emergency calls when necessary.

Optus has since acknowledged its failings.

“We know we let our customers down — particularly those who should have received a welfare check from Optus,” the company said in a statement, adding that it remains committed to learning from the incident and improving customer support at critical times.

Following the Nov 2023 outage, Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin resigned, with Chief Financial Officer Michael Venter assuming the role at the time.

In March this year, ACMA fined Optus A$1.5 million (approximately US$978,150) after discovering extensive breaches of public safety regulations concerning emergency services.

ACMA’s investigation revealed that Optus jeopardized the safety of approximately 200,000 mobile customers by failing to upload essential customer information to an emergency services database from January 2021 to September 2023, leaving these customers exposed to potential risks.