Optus triple-zero failure during mass outage 10 times worse than reported

More than 10 times the number of triple-zero calls failed during Optus’ mass outage than its former chief executive told the Senate, with the telco failing to conduct welfare checks on more than 2000 customers who were unable to get through to emergency services.

Then-Optus chief Kelly Bayer Rosmarin told a Senate inquiry last year that more than 200 triple-zero emergency calls were unable to connect during the company’s 16-hour outage on November 8 that affected some 10 million customers and crippled businesses nationally.

Kelly Bayer Rosmarin resigned as Optus chief executive three days after her Senate appearance.

But Optus said on Tuesday an internal review had shown a further 2468 customers made triple-zero calls during the outage that were unable to go through, and for which welfare checks were not undertaken.

“Optus will update the Senate record and has also provided relevant information to the [communications regulator] ACMA, which is investigating Optus’ compliance with its obligations under the Emergency Service Call Determination,” an Optus spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

In November, Bayer Rosmarin told the Senate that 228 emergency calls had failed to connect.

“We have done welfare checks on all of those 228 calls. And thankfully everybody is OK,” Bayer Rosmarin told the inquiry on November 17. She resigned from her role on November 20.

“We don’t manage the triple-zero system. It’s a very complex system that involves all the carriers … We’re still investigating that, and we’re really happy that the ACMA [Australian Communications and Media Authority] has called an investigation into why this did not work.”

Optus would co-operate with the government’s investigations and appoint an independent third party to review its processes, and commit to implement any recommendations, she added.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland says the telco industry must implement improvements.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland called the development “deeply disturbing”.

“This new information will be considered by the ACMA as part of its independent investigation into Optus’ compliance with the Telecommunications [Emergency Call Provider] Determination 2019,” Rowland said.

Optus interim chief executive Michael Venter on Tuesday offered his “deepest apologies” to customers unable to access triple-zero services during the outage.

“There is nothing more important to us than the safety and security of our customers, but regrettably on November 8 we did not meet the standards our customers and the community expects from us,” he said.

“We are writing to each customer individually to apologise for this and provide the opportunity to discuss their specific circumstances, and whether there is anything we can do to assist them further.

“We know we let our customers down and our entire team is committed to addressing all learnings from the outage.”

The November outage impacted rail networks, hospital communications and businesses across the country, and cost Bayer Rosmarin her job. Optus is still searching for her replacement.

Optus provided affected customers with free data, but not monetary compensation.

The government announced a post-incident review on November 9, “to ensure industry and government capture lessons from the outage and implement improvements”, Rowland said.

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young in December also called a follow-up Senate hearing for February 9, with banking executives, the communications watchdog and executives from Telstra and TPG set to give evidence.

“We will look to call the other big telco companies and the corporate regulator to give evidence, along with a number of the big banks whose services were impacted by the Optus fail,” Hanson-Young said.

“Access to data and online services is a part of our everyday lives. Australians deserve to know that when something goes wrong, there is a plan in place for accessing these essential services.”

Optus said the outage was the result of a routine software upgrade from its parent company, Singtel, that took its network offline and forced staff to physically reboot services. The cause of the outage was first revealed by this masthead.

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