Three people died during an Optus network upgrade that impacted triple-0 calls. Optus CEO Stephen Rue faced the media tonight, revealing a ‘technical failure’ during the upgrade caused the failure of emergency 000 calls in South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
“Our investigation is ongoing but at this stage I can confirm that approximately 600 customers were potentially impacted, of which a proportion of their calls did not go through,” said Rue.
“I can confirm that this technical failure has now been rectified. I have been advised that during the process of conducting welfare checks, three of the triple-0 calls involved households where a person tragically passed away. Please know that these welfare checks are ongoing.”
The network upgrade occured yesterday. Oddly, normal calls were still connecting during this period. Rue offered condolences to the people affected. Two died in South Australia, one in Western Australia.
“I am so sorry for your loss. What has happened is completely unacceptable. We have let you down.”
Optus says it is conducting a thorough investigation.
