Optus Directs Critical Outage Alerts to Incorrect Government Email
(MENAFN) Australian telecom leader Optus mistakenly directed critical outage notifications to an incorrect government email address amid last month’s extensive network disruption, officials revealed Wednesday.
During a Senate estimates hearing, representatives from the Department of Infrastructure disclosed that emails sent at 2:45 pm and 2:52 pm local time on September 18 were misrouted to the wrong public service inbox. These alerts went unnoticed for over 24 hours, according to media.
Initially, Optus reported resolving a triple-0 emergency call outage that affected only 10 calls. However, further investigation revealed the failure impacted 600 calls, with three fatalities linked to the incident.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority is now probing whether Optus violated legal obligations.
Last month’s outages interrupted services for thousands nationwide, with the first event tragically connected to three deaths after emergency calls could not be made promptly.
Optus, owned by Singapore-based telecommunications giant Singtel, remains under intense scrutiny.
On Wednesday, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed he discussed the Optus outage directly with Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.
"Yes, it was discussed. I raised the issue, and we had a discussion. I thank Prime Minister Wong for the condolences that he offered to the families and his support for strong follow-up action," Albanese said during a joint news conference in Canberra.
Prime Minister Wong emphasized the commercial nature of Optus and Singtel but stressed, "I expect them to behave responsibly and to comply with domestic laws wherever they operate."
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