Multiple people died during the network outage, during which they were unable to reach emergency services.
Following Optus chief executive Stephen Rue’s admission yesterday that the telco had missed several warnings that calls to Triple Zero were not going through, Wells this morning confirmed Optus had been told about the issue but not acted on it.
“Optus will be held to account,” she said.
“Optus and all telecommunications providers have obligations under Australian law to make sure emergency services calls go through.”
Wells and Australian Communications and Media Authority head Nerida O’Loughlin did not specify what consequences Optus would face, but O’Loughlin noted that the telco had been penalised $12 million after breaching similar laws in 2023.
O’Loughlin said 624 Triple Zero calls had been affected during the outage, which occurred between 12.30am and 1.30pm on Thursday in South Australia, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory.
She said initial emails from Optus about the scale of the outage had been “perfunctory” and “inaccurate”.
Under existing regulations, telecommunications companies are required to tell stakeholders, including the government and ACMA, as soon as an outage is detected.
”In this case we weren’t notified at all until the outage was resolved,” O’Loughlin said.
ACMA is undertaking a thorough investigation of the incident, though Wells and O’Loughlin did not say when they expected that to be resolved.
“Once we have the facts about what has happened and once I take the recommendations that come from the recommendation from ACMA, I will then consider what is an appropriate response for the telecommunications as a whole,” Wells said.
The minister also indicated that the outage could prompt a broader examination of the industry, noting that Optus was not the only provider to have overseen Triple Zero outages.
“This is not entirely a matter for Optus,” Wells said.
“We are considering what needs to be done holistically or as part of legislative relief for the Australian people, given their confidence has no doubt been shaken by what has happened here.”
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