Aussie telecom regulator fines Optus $8 million over emergency services outage

(Reuters) – Australian telecom watchdog has fined Optus A$12 million ($7.99 million) for failing to provide emergency call services to thousands during a nationwide outage last year, the regulator said early on Friday.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) said it found 2,145 customers could not access the emergency call service during the outage last November that left half the population without internet or phone for much of the day.

The country’s No.2 telecom carrier also failed to check up on more than 360 of those customers once the outage was resolved, the regulator said.

“Our findings indicate that Optus failed in the management of its network in a number of areas and that the outage should have been preventable,” ACMA Chair Nerida O’Loughlin said in a statement.

This is the latest hit to the troubled telecom firm after the consumer watchdog just days ago dragged it to court alleging “misconduct” while selling mobile phones, accessories and plans to “vulnerable” customers.

The telecom firm has been struggling to repair its reputation since a cyber attack in September 2022 that affected data of more than a million customers and triggered nationwide calls called for tougher privacy rules.

Optus, owned by Singapore Telecommunications, acknowledged ACMA’s announcement and said it had made “changes to better manage emergency calls during network challenges”.

($1 = 1.5020 Australian dollars)