Australian officials have promised telecommunications giant Optus will face 'significant consequences' over a systems outage linked to multiple deaths. The incident last week left hundreds of people across more than half of the country unable to call emergency services for 13 hours. Optus - one of the country's two major providers - says at least three people died as a result, and its chief executive has apologized to their families and the public for the 'completely unacceptable' failure.
The company is under fire for its delayed handling of the incident - the second such outage for the firm in two years - and the nation's communications regulator is investigating. More than 600 calls to emergency services failed last Thursday, primarily coming from South Australia, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory. However, Optus waited 40 hours to inform the public about the incident, which goes against standard protocol, according to the Australian Media and Communications Authority (Acma).
In a press conference, Optus boss Stephen Rue blamed the outage on a technical fault during a network upgrade, confirming that welfare checks indicated three people, including a baby, died because they couldn't reach emergency services. Following the backlash, Communications Minister Anika Wells stated that telecommunications providers have 'no excuse' for failures, and there are ongoing investigations into the company's practices. Moreover, Optus has faced penalties over a previous outage that affected thousands, raising questions about its reliability and accountability.
The company is under fire for its delayed handling of the incident - the second such outage for the firm in two years - and the nation's communications regulator is investigating. More than 600 calls to emergency services failed last Thursday, primarily coming from South Australia, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory. However, Optus waited 40 hours to inform the public about the incident, which goes against standard protocol, according to the Australian Media and Communications Authority (Acma).
In a press conference, Optus boss Stephen Rue blamed the outage on a technical fault during a network upgrade, confirming that welfare checks indicated three people, including a baby, died because they couldn't reach emergency services. Following the backlash, Communications Minister Anika Wells stated that telecommunications providers have 'no excuse' for failures, and there are ongoing investigations into the company's practices. Moreover, Optus has faced penalties over a previous outage that affected thousands, raising questions about its reliability and accountability.
