Optus apologises for triple zero service outage
- Optus voice services suffered a 76-minute technical outage across three Australian states and the Northern Territory.
- The network failure triggered around 40 police welfare checks while government officials launched formal investigations into emergency service reliability.
- Optus operates as a major telecommunications provider in Australia under parent company Singapore Telecommunications.
Singtel subsidiary Optus issued an apology after a 76-minute network outage disrupted voice calling services and emergency calls across Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, and the Northern Territory.
The technical glitch follows a 2023 network outage that left hundreds of people unable to contact emergency services and ultimately resulted in two deaths.
"We sincerely apologise to customers for the disruption," said Optus in a formal statement.
Local authorities confirmed Victoria police completed roughly 40 welfare checks on affected callers with no adverse outcomes reported, while federal ministers stated that investigations into the failure have commenced.
The company faced a $12 million regulatory fine in 2024 for failing to provide emergency call access to thousands of customers during its previous nationwide network failure.
The telecommunications provider also managed a major cyberattack in 2022 that exposed the personal data of approximately 9.5 million Australian users.
