Optus network chief resigns four months following widespread outage
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In a shocking development, the Director of Network Operations of the telecommunications giant Optus, Lambo Kanagaratnam, resigned four months after a massive outage left around 10 million Australians without mobile phone service.
While no official link has been drawn between the incident and his departure, this comes as a significant blow to the company amidst its recovery from the highly public issue.
The problem erupted on a regular November day when customers across Australia suddenly found themselves unable to make phone calls, send messages or access the internet.
Within hours, millions of Optus customers were left helpless and disconnected, causing a nationwide furore that reverberated in the press and on social media for days.
Optus interim CEO and CFO Michael Venter confirmed Kanagaratnam’s departure: 'After nearly nine years of service, Lambo Kanagaratnam has made the decision that the time is right for him to leave Optus.'
Kanagaratnam has a seasoned journey in the field of telecommunications and had been with Optus since 2015.
He brought a wealth of international experience, having worked in many countries.
As the managing director of networks, he was in charge of the ‘technology strategy, design, build and operations’ of Optus' network across Australia.
However, his tenure was not without its share of troubles.
In the aftermath of the November outage, Kanagaratnam appeared in a Senate hearing, where he conceded Optus hadn't been prepared for an outage of that magnitude.
'We didn't have a plan in place for that specific scale of outage,' he stated.
‘It was unexpected. We have high levels of redundancy, and it's not something that we expect to happen. It's certainly something that we commit to learning from.’
Optus' overall network performance had reportedly improved under Kanagaratnam's stewardship, leading to the delivery of more customer-centric network experiences.
Venter expressed his utmost respect for Kanagaratnam and extended his best wishes.
‘Lambo has helped our teams navigate through some uniquely challenging major natural disasters ranging from cyclones, floods and fires as well as responding to the complexities that COVID-19 and the recent outage presented for our customers and network teams,’ he shared.
‘Under his leadership, our networks teams have materially improved our customers' overall network experience and have also become more customer-centric in the way we measure network experience,’ he added.
Despite the adversity, Kanagaratnam demonstrated a deep commitment to his role.
Yet, the colossal outage turned into a public relations disaster for Optus, who priorly faced harsh criticism for a data breach.
As per the recent Roy Morgan poll, Optus remains the most distrusted brand in Australia.
As Optus reorganises following Kanagaratnam’s departure, the company reported that Chief Technology Officer, Jorge Fernandes, will temporarily assume the vacated position until a full-time replacement is found.
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While no official link has been drawn between the incident and his departure, this comes as a significant blow to the company amidst its recovery from the highly public issue.
The problem erupted on a regular November day when customers across Australia suddenly found themselves unable to make phone calls, send messages or access the internet.
Within hours, millions of Optus customers were left helpless and disconnected, causing a nationwide furore that reverberated in the press and on social media for days.
Optus boss Lambo Kanagaratnam resigned after nearly a decade in the company. Image source: Shutterstock
Optus interim CEO and CFO Michael Venter confirmed Kanagaratnam’s departure: 'After nearly nine years of service, Lambo Kanagaratnam has made the decision that the time is right for him to leave Optus.'
Kanagaratnam has a seasoned journey in the field of telecommunications and had been with Optus since 2015.
He brought a wealth of international experience, having worked in many countries.
As the managing director of networks, he was in charge of the ‘technology strategy, design, build and operations’ of Optus' network across Australia.
However, his tenure was not without its share of troubles.
In the aftermath of the November outage, Kanagaratnam appeared in a Senate hearing, where he conceded Optus hadn't been prepared for an outage of that magnitude.
'We didn't have a plan in place for that specific scale of outage,' he stated.
‘It was unexpected. We have high levels of redundancy, and it's not something that we expect to happen. It's certainly something that we commit to learning from.’
Optus' overall network performance had reportedly improved under Kanagaratnam's stewardship, leading to the delivery of more customer-centric network experiences.
Venter expressed his utmost respect for Kanagaratnam and extended his best wishes.
‘Lambo has helped our teams navigate through some uniquely challenging major natural disasters ranging from cyclones, floods and fires as well as responding to the complexities that COVID-19 and the recent outage presented for our customers and network teams,’ he shared.
‘Under his leadership, our networks teams have materially improved our customers' overall network experience and have also become more customer-centric in the way we measure network experience,’ he added.
Despite the adversity, Kanagaratnam demonstrated a deep commitment to his role.
Yet, the colossal outage turned into a public relations disaster for Optus, who priorly faced harsh criticism for a data breach.
As per the recent Roy Morgan poll, Optus remains the most distrusted brand in Australia.
As Optus reorganises following Kanagaratnam’s departure, the company reported that Chief Technology Officer, Jorge Fernandes, will temporarily assume the vacated position until a full-time replacement is found.
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