TPG cops warning over triple-0 notification failure during midnight network outage

Australia’s communications watchdog has formally warned TPG Telecom after it took seven hours to notify Telstra about an outage affecting its triple-0 emergency call service.

ACMA found that that Vodafone owner TPG Telecom took more than seven hours to notify Triple-0 operator Telstra about a network outage. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

Australia’s communications watchdog has warned Vodafone owner TPG Telecom after it took more than seven hours to notify triple-0 operator Telstra about a network outage in the middle of the night.

Telstra is responsible for Australia’s triple-0 service and the outage meant TPG customers were transferred to another network if they had to call emergency services during that time.

Under emergency call service rules, when telcos experience an outage they must notify Telstra “as soon as practicable”.

Australian Communications and Media Authority member Samantha Yorke said an investigation found that TPG became aware of the outage – which lasted for about 80 minutes – at 1:22am on August 15 last year but did not notify Telstra until 9:07am – more than seven hours later.

TPG had restored its service by 2am that morning.

Ms Yorke said ACMA’s investigation found no evidence that TPG customers “suffered any harm as a result of its non-compliance”.

As a result, ACMA hit TPG with a formal warning rather than steep fines like the $13m it imposed on Optus during its nationwide shutdown in late 2023, which resulted in almost 2700 callers not being able to contact triple-0.

ACMA also fined Telstra $3m late last year after an investigation found 473 breaches of emergency call rules when Telstra’s triple-0 call centre experienced a disruption for 90 minutes.

“It’s crucial that all telcos have their systems and processes in place to ensure any network outages impacting triple-0 are identified and addressed as soon as possible. They must also take timely action to alert other key stakeholders in the triple-0 ecosystem where a problem is being experienced,” Ms Yorke said.

A TPG spokesman said it takes its regulatory responsibilities seriously and has implemented “improved processes and training to prevent this happening again”.

During telco outages customers should be able to continue to access emergency services with calls transferred to other networks.

TPG has been sparring with Telstra during the past month. It alleged Telstra overstated the size of its network by about one million square kilometres – an area about the size of NSW, ACT and Victoria combined, saying its bigger rival has “tricked Australians into paying top dollar” for more than a decade.

Telstra said it has since performed “rigorous” retesting of its network, which chief executive Vicki Brady said showed its three million coverage claim was “right all along” and people don’t require expensive external antennas to access it.

But Ms Brady acknowledged there were black spots within the three million square kilometre footprint where calls dropped out or could not be made. Telstra has declined to reveal the quantity of these “known black spots”. It also has refused to say what the minimum decibels per watt (dBm) level is that it sets during testing to measure the strength of a mobile signal.

Instead, a Telstra spokesman referred to a raft of caveats that can affect coverage, saying its maps were not “perfect”.

“Our maps are therefore not designed to perfectly visualise our three million square kilometres of coverage claim.”

Originally published as TPG cops warning over triple-0 notification failure during midnight network outage