Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX:TLS) chief executive Vicki Brady has apologised to Australians after the company’s worst network outage in a decade disrupted triple-zero calls, payment systems and public transport services across the country.
More than 600 people were unable to contact emergency services during the outage, while police are investigating whether the network failure was connected to the death of an elderly person at a regional South Australian hospital.
“We have let our customers and Australians down. And for that, I am deeply sorry. I understand how much Australians rely on us to keep in touch, to work, and stay safe. I also understand the broader impact on the community when services go down from things like payments to transport,” she told reporters in Sydney.
“When I learned of the outage, and Michael (Ackland) has kept me updated throughout, I have been in contact with Minister Anika Wells throughout the incident, and I also spoke with the Prime Minister this morning to provide him with an update directly.”
Software update triggers nationwide disruption
The outage began early on Wednesday morning following a failed software update that reportedly wound back one of Telstra’s digital clocks by 20 years.
The error caused synchronisation failures across the company’s mobile network, disrupting calls and data services and forcing some train networks to suspend operations.
Telstra said it had identified the cause of the outage and would conduct a full investigation into the incident.
Brady said the company would take steps to ensure the failure was not repeated.
“We understand the cause of the outage and we will complete a thorough investigation to prevent it from happening again,” she said.
Emergency call failures under investigation
South Australian police are examining whether the outage affected communications surrounding the death of an elderly patient at a regional hospital.
Telstra is now working closely with police and will assist with the inquiry.
The disruption has renewed scrutiny of the resilience of Australia’s telecommunications infrastructure, particularly the reliability of emergency call services during widespread network failures.
Brady said she had spoken with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Communications Minister Anika Wells to provide updates on the incident.
Compensation under consideration
Telstra chief financial officer Michael Ackland managed the company’s response while Brady returned from annual leave overseas.
Ackland said Telstra would assess compensation for customers affected by the outage as part of its usual customer support processes.
“We’ll work through compensation as part of our business-as-usual process, and we’ll communicate with customers around that,” he said.
Brady said she returned from a family holiday “as quickly as possible” after learning of the outage and remained in regular contact with senior management during the crisis.