Optus outage cripples state’s major health service
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In an era where many are increasingly reliant on technology, the last thing anyone wants to hear is that their phone service provider is experiencing an outage.
Yet, this is exactly what happened to thousands of Optus customers, including Victoria's largest regional health service.
Barwon Health was left unable to make or receive calls during a significant service disruption.
The health service shared that it was ‘experiencing intermittent issues with our landlines and mobile phones due to an Optus outage’.
The outage, which occurred from 7 pm to midnight on Monday, was reportedly due to two separate incidents.
Most of the complaints, almost 70 per cent, were related to mobile phone service issues.
Customers were frustrated and disconnected, unable to send or receive voice calls or texts during this period.
The Optus website also reportedly instructed customers to 'just turn their phone off and on again'.
One customer from Kingston, Tasmania, expressed their frustration on social media, stating, '(I was) unable to send or receive voice or SMS yesterday (from) 7 pm to midnight…in Kingston Tasmania.'
'Coles mobile (Optus network) said there was a system-wide outage (no other details), however, I can see no reference to the outage this morning.'
An Optus spokesperson acknowledged the issue, stating, 'Optus is aware that some of our mobile customers experienced problems calling customers on another network.'
'We understand that this network provider has since resolved its issue.'
'Separately, we understand that some Optus customers in Victoria had issues with their mobile services yesterday evening, which has been resolved.'
The Optus spokesperson also apologised for any inconvenience caused to customers.
But for many, this was a case of déjà vu.
Just over a month ago, Optus experienced one of the largest outages in history, a 12-hour network event that left Australian individuals and businesses unable to make calls, access the internet, or complete transactions.
'After the Optus outage debacle last month, I thought it couldn’t get any worse than this but it is,' one said on social media.
While another added: 'Optus down again.'
In response to the November 8 outage, Optus offered customers—including businesses that lost thousands of dollars in sales—200GB of extra data, or free data on weekends for those on prepaid plans, as a 'gesture of thanks for their ongoing support and patience'.
Meanwhile, scammers have been taking advantage of the Optus outage by targeting its customers with a new phishing scam.
Authorities issued a warning for all Optus users to beware of a text message claiming to offer compensation for the disruption.
This text message pretends to be from Optus, addressing recipients as existing customers.
A link then invites users to tap through to supposedly claim their share of 'compensation'. However, experts warn this link leads to a phishing site aimed at stealing personal information.
You can read more about this scam here.
What are your thoughts on this most recent Optus outage? Have you been affected by a telecommunication outage before? Share your experiences in the comments below.
Yet, this is exactly what happened to thousands of Optus customers, including Victoria's largest regional health service.
Barwon Health was left unable to make or receive calls during a significant service disruption.
The health service shared that it was ‘experiencing intermittent issues with our landlines and mobile phones due to an Optus outage’.
The outage, which occurred from 7 pm to midnight on Monday, was reportedly due to two separate incidents.
Barwon Health was affected by the recent Optus outage. Image source: msgrowth on Freepik.
Most of the complaints, almost 70 per cent, were related to mobile phone service issues.
Customers were frustrated and disconnected, unable to send or receive voice calls or texts during this period.
The Optus website also reportedly instructed customers to 'just turn their phone off and on again'.
One customer from Kingston, Tasmania, expressed their frustration on social media, stating, '(I was) unable to send or receive voice or SMS yesterday (from) 7 pm to midnight…in Kingston Tasmania.'
'Coles mobile (Optus network) said there was a system-wide outage (no other details), however, I can see no reference to the outage this morning.'
An Optus spokesperson acknowledged the issue, stating, 'Optus is aware that some of our mobile customers experienced problems calling customers on another network.'
'We understand that this network provider has since resolved its issue.'
'Separately, we understand that some Optus customers in Victoria had issues with their mobile services yesterday evening, which has been resolved.'
The Optus spokesperson also apologised for any inconvenience caused to customers.
But for many, this was a case of déjà vu.
Just over a month ago, Optus experienced one of the largest outages in history, a 12-hour network event that left Australian individuals and businesses unable to make calls, access the internet, or complete transactions.
'After the Optus outage debacle last month, I thought it couldn’t get any worse than this but it is,' one said on social media.
While another added: 'Optus down again.'
In response to the November 8 outage, Optus offered customers—including businesses that lost thousands of dollars in sales—200GB of extra data, or free data on weekends for those on prepaid plans, as a 'gesture of thanks for their ongoing support and patience'.
Meanwhile, scammers have been taking advantage of the Optus outage by targeting its customers with a new phishing scam.
Authorities issued a warning for all Optus users to beware of a text message claiming to offer compensation for the disruption.
This text message pretends to be from Optus, addressing recipients as existing customers.
A link then invites users to tap through to supposedly claim their share of 'compensation'. However, experts warn this link leads to a phishing site aimed at stealing personal information.
You can read more about this scam here.
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