Major outage affects Optus customers: Emergency services unavailable for landline users
- Replies 28
We are usually quick to embrace the convenience and perks technology brings to the table.
From having information across the world at our fingertips to being able to communicate with our loved ones from anywhere, anytime, it’s such a fascinating time to live in.
However, every so often, we're given a rather harsh reminder that this digital age is not foolproof and that it does come with some inevitable downsides.
Today, we’ll explore the recent Optus outage—a stark reminder of how, in our interconnected world, even a temporary internet crash can disrupt the routines of many.
Optus, one of Australia’s major telecom providers, recently faced one of the largest outages in our country’s history. Customers in Brisbane, Perth, Sydney, Melbourne, the ACT, Tasmania, and Adelaide all reported network blackouts.
This outage, which began at 4 a.m. on a Wednesday, disrupted the routines of many Australians, including those who rely on landlines for communication.
The most critical aspect of this outage is the inability of Optus landline users to contact emergency services.
This means that anyone at home without a mobile phone, could not or is still unable to make calls to the police, ambulance, or fire services.
The situation also led to chaos in hospitals, businesses, and transportation networks.
Additionally, the internet network and home broadband services were affected.
Nearly 9,000 outage reports were submitted to Optus before 6 a.m. This number significantly increased as Australians began their day.
The Melbourne train network experienced an earlier shutdown on Wednesday, leaving many commuters in a difficult situation.
The short disruption is believed to be connected to the Optus outage. Metro Trains also confirmed that services have resumed, but substantial delays are anticipated.
The outage has also affected other carriers operating on the Optus mobile network, such as Amaysim, Vaya, Aussie Broadband, Moose Mobile, Coles Mobile, Spintel, Southern Phone, and Dodo Mobile.
Moreover, Melbourne's Northern Health District reported that their hospitals’ phone lines were impacted by the outage.
‘All phone lines into Northern Health campuses are currently being affected by an Optus outage,’ they shared.
‘This includes phone lines into Northern Hospital Epping, Broadmeadows Hospital, Bundoora Centre, Craigieburn Centre, Kilmore District Hospital, and Victorian Virtual Emergency Department (VVED). We apologise for any inconvenience.’
The problem also impacted Sydney’s Westmead Private Hospital.
‘Due to the national outage of Optus, all our phone lines are unfortunately down, to contact the hospital, please email us on admissions,’ the hospital announced.
St Vincent’s and the Mater hospitals are facing the same issues.
The Sydney Airport, the Australian Tax Office, NRMA, and major banks such as Commonwealth and ANZ have encountered problems as well.
Businesses connected to EFTPOS machines linked with Optus are experiencing disruptions.
A caregiver in Melbourne shared their distress, mentioning that they were unable to call for an ambulance when their patient suffered a cardiac arrest due to the outage.
‘I had to run out on the street and borrow a phone from someone walking his dog,’ they shared in an interview.
Another Optus customer said that his wife, a specialist doctor overseeing kidney transplants, faced difficulty in making calls during this outage.
Even snake catchers felt the impact of this situation, with Stewy the Snake Catcher from Wyndhamvale, Melbourne, reporting that he is also offline.
‘We are aware of a major outage across the Optus network, and I myself am with Optus,’ he expressed.
‘We apologise in advance if you try to get through to us this morning and are having trouble. Hopefully, they rectify the issue ASAP.’
State police authorities have reassured residents that the outage won't affect emergency 000 calls.
The telecommunications company has acknowledged the issues affecting some customers but has not yet explained the system failure.
‘Optus is aware of an issue that may be impacting some of our mobile and internet customers,’ said a spokesperson.
‘We are currently working to identify the cause and apologise for any inconvenience.’
‘In case of an emergency, customers can still call 000.’
In a follow-up statement, the telco said their teams are urgently working to restore services.
‘We will provide updates as soon as possible. We apologise sincerely to our customers,' they said just after 8.30 am.’
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland pointed out that the company has not yet offered explanations for the cause of the outage.
Some government state and federal agencies were being monitored for how the crash affected them, but it wasn't specified which ones were impacted the most.
EFTM Technology Expert Trevor Long described it as the ‘biggest telco outage’ in Australia.
‘To have the mobile and home broadband down at the same time means if you're an Optus family, you are without communication this morning,’ he said to 2GB.
‘There’s literally no way of communicating if Optus is the only communication into your home on your home broadband and mobile phone, which would definitely be a big chunk of those customers.’
Mr Long noted that there has been minimal communication from Optus, and they might be investigating the possibility of a hack as one potential cause.
The blackout could also be attributed to factors such as damaged cable, an IT system failure, or an upgrade malfunction, according to the expert.
Many Optus subscribers in Australia have expressed their frustration on the internet, with some reporting that they can only make emergency SOS calls.
‘How is it possible that the entire country could have no #optus? I have no phone coverage at all,’ one wrote.
‘What is going on with #Optus this morning? Woke up, and the phone was not working. No email or Comms from the company either. Poor form,’ said another.
‘Cool, thanks to Optus, the second I leave the house today, I will have no reception or data service on my phone. Let's hope no customers have any emergencies today,’ a third added.
Meanwhile, an Australian employee mentioned that he was unable to access Microsoft Teams because his phone, required for authentication, was affected by the outage.
It’s worth noting that Optus serves a vast user base of 10.2 million across the country.
Rowland also admitted that the government will continue to work closely with the telcos to ensure access to emergency lines stays open for everyone.
Members, if any of you have been experiencing the outage, please share your experiences in the comments below!
From having information across the world at our fingertips to being able to communicate with our loved ones from anywhere, anytime, it’s such a fascinating time to live in.
However, every so often, we're given a rather harsh reminder that this digital age is not foolproof and that it does come with some inevitable downsides.
Today, we’ll explore the recent Optus outage—a stark reminder of how, in our interconnected world, even a temporary internet crash can disrupt the routines of many.
Optus, one of Australia’s major telecom providers, recently faced one of the largest outages in our country’s history. Customers in Brisbane, Perth, Sydney, Melbourne, the ACT, Tasmania, and Adelaide all reported network blackouts.
This outage, which began at 4 a.m. on a Wednesday, disrupted the routines of many Australians, including those who rely on landlines for communication.
The most critical aspect of this outage is the inability of Optus landline users to contact emergency services.
This means that anyone at home without a mobile phone, could not or is still unable to make calls to the police, ambulance, or fire services.
The situation also led to chaos in hospitals, businesses, and transportation networks.
Additionally, the internet network and home broadband services were affected.
Here are the locations where Optus users have reported the network blackout. Image source: Seven
Nearly 9,000 outage reports were submitted to Optus before 6 a.m. This number significantly increased as Australians began their day.
The Melbourne train network experienced an earlier shutdown on Wednesday, leaving many commuters in a difficult situation.
The short disruption is believed to be connected to the Optus outage. Metro Trains also confirmed that services have resumed, but substantial delays are anticipated.
The outage has also affected other carriers operating on the Optus mobile network, such as Amaysim, Vaya, Aussie Broadband, Moose Mobile, Coles Mobile, Spintel, Southern Phone, and Dodo Mobile.
Moreover, Melbourne's Northern Health District reported that their hospitals’ phone lines were impacted by the outage.
‘All phone lines into Northern Health campuses are currently being affected by an Optus outage,’ they shared.
‘This includes phone lines into Northern Hospital Epping, Broadmeadows Hospital, Bundoora Centre, Craigieburn Centre, Kilmore District Hospital, and Victorian Virtual Emergency Department (VVED). We apologise for any inconvenience.’
The problem also impacted Sydney’s Westmead Private Hospital.
‘Due to the national outage of Optus, all our phone lines are unfortunately down, to contact the hospital, please email us on admissions,’ the hospital announced.
St Vincent’s and the Mater hospitals are facing the same issues.
The Sydney Airport, the Australian Tax Office, NRMA, and major banks such as Commonwealth and ANZ have encountered problems as well.
Businesses connected to EFTPOS machines linked with Optus are experiencing disruptions.
A caregiver in Melbourne shared their distress, mentioning that they were unable to call for an ambulance when their patient suffered a cardiac arrest due to the outage.
‘I had to run out on the street and borrow a phone from someone walking his dog,’ they shared in an interview.
Another Optus customer said that his wife, a specialist doctor overseeing kidney transplants, faced difficulty in making calls during this outage.
Even snake catchers felt the impact of this situation, with Stewy the Snake Catcher from Wyndhamvale, Melbourne, reporting that he is also offline.
‘We are aware of a major outage across the Optus network, and I myself am with Optus,’ he expressed.
‘We apologise in advance if you try to get through to us this morning and are having trouble. Hopefully, they rectify the issue ASAP.’
State police authorities have reassured residents that the outage won't affect emergency 000 calls.
The telecommunications company has acknowledged the issues affecting some customers but has not yet explained the system failure.
‘Optus is aware of an issue that may be impacting some of our mobile and internet customers,’ said a spokesperson.
‘We are currently working to identify the cause and apologise for any inconvenience.’
‘In case of an emergency, customers can still call 000.’
In a follow-up statement, the telco said their teams are urgently working to restore services.
‘We will provide updates as soon as possible. We apologise sincerely to our customers,' they said just after 8.30 am.’
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland pointed out that the company has not yet offered explanations for the cause of the outage.
Some government state and federal agencies were being monitored for how the crash affected them, but it wasn't specified which ones were impacted the most.
EFTM Technology Expert Trevor Long described it as the ‘biggest telco outage’ in Australia.
‘To have the mobile and home broadband down at the same time means if you're an Optus family, you are without communication this morning,’ he said to 2GB.
‘There’s literally no way of communicating if Optus is the only communication into your home on your home broadband and mobile phone, which would definitely be a big chunk of those customers.’
Mr Long noted that there has been minimal communication from Optus, and they might be investigating the possibility of a hack as one potential cause.
The blackout could also be attributed to factors such as damaged cable, an IT system failure, or an upgrade malfunction, according to the expert.
Many Optus subscribers in Australia have expressed their frustration on the internet, with some reporting that they can only make emergency SOS calls.
‘How is it possible that the entire country could have no #optus? I have no phone coverage at all,’ one wrote.
‘What is going on with #Optus this morning? Woke up, and the phone was not working. No email or Comms from the company either. Poor form,’ said another.
‘Cool, thanks to Optus, the second I leave the house today, I will have no reception or data service on my phone. Let's hope no customers have any emergencies today,’ a third added.
Meanwhile, an Australian employee mentioned that he was unable to access Microsoft Teams because his phone, required for authentication, was affected by the outage.
It’s worth noting that Optus serves a vast user base of 10.2 million across the country.
Rowland also admitted that the government will continue to work closely with the telcos to ensure access to emergency lines stays open for everyone.
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