Singtel-owned Optus fined $10.6 million by Australian regulator over outage of emergency services

BENGALURU – Australia’s telecoms watchdog fines Singtel subsidiary Optus A$12 million (S$10.6 million) for failing to provide emergency call services to thousands of people During a nationwide blackout in 2023, the regulator said early Nov. 8.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) said it found 2,145 customers were unable to access an emergency call service during the outage in November 2023, which left half the population without internet or phones for much of the day.

The regulator added that the country’s No. 2 telecom operator was also unable to control more than 360 of those customers after the outage was resolved.

“Our findings show that Optus has failed to manage its network in some areas and the outage should have been avoidable,” ACMA chief executive Nerida O’Loughlin said in a statement.

This is the latest blow to the troubled telecom firm after the consumer watchdog dragged it to court a few days ago for alleged “misconduct” in selling mobile phones, accessories and plans to “vulnerable” customers.

Optus has been trying to repair its reputation since a cyberattack in September 2022 that affected the data of more than a million customers and triggered calls for tighter privacy rules across the country.

The company acknowledged ACMA’s announcement and said it had made “changes to better manage emergency calls during network issues.” REUTERS