‘Failed millions’: Damning report blasts Optus over nationwide outage as Aussie telcos face major overhaul

Optus has been slammed in a damning Senate report into last year’s massive outage, with a committee finding the Aussie telco “failed millions”.

A damning report has found Optus “failed millions” during its embarrassing 2023 network outage and its communications to keep the public updated were “manifestly inadequate” and stretched credulity.

Australian telcos are now facing an overhaul following the senate probe into last year’s massive Optus outage, along with sweeping industry changes to act as safeguards for any similar incidents in the future.

About 10 million Optus customers and more than 400,000 businesses were impacted when an apparent software update sparked complications across its Australia network on November 8 last year.

Some customers could not even call triple-0.

The senate inquiry made seven recommendations in its report released on Friday, including an “enforceable communications standard” that would compel telcos to liaise with “government, emergency services and the public during national outages.”

The report also urgently recommended legislative action to reclassify carriers “as critical infrastructure providers.”

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, the inquiry’s chair, said the report required “Optus and other telcos to work towards better network safeguards and a higher standard of public accountability in the future.”

Inquiry chair Green Senator Sarah Hanson-Young says Optus ‘failed millions of Australians’. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“Optus failed millions of Australians and small businesses during the November 8 network outage,” she said.

“Not only did the communications network that many of us rely on fail, but the company itself failed to communicate and keep the public informed through the outage.”

Senator Hanson-Young said the recommendations aimed to boost cooperation between government and telcos to manage future outages.

“In 2024 people expect to be able to call triple-0 in an emergency, to be able to access internet banking for their small business, or to contact their kids or grandparents via their mobile phone,” the senator said.

“It’s therefore appropriate that telecommunications carriers are included as critical infrastructure providers via amendments to the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act 2018.”

The report called for better dispute resolution experiences for customers, recommending the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman to speed up “development of a tailored dispute resolution mechanism to ensure appropriate compensation” for mass outages.

It also recommended the industry regulator review Optus’ action to prevent another incident from happening again.

Optus government and regulatory vice president Andrew Sheridan says ‘the safety of our customers is of the utmost importance to Optus’. Picture: NewsWire / Damian Shaw

In a statement to NewsWire, Optus government and regulatory vice president Andrew Sheridan said the company welcomed the inquiry’s work and that it “the importance of having communications processes and protocols that prioritise public safety.”

“Ensuring the safety of our customers is of the utmost importance to Optus and we remain committed to continuously improving our support for customers at critical times,” he said.

“We would like to apologise again to all our customers who were affected by the outage on 8 November 2023, particularly those who could not connect to emergency services and business owners whose services were disrupted.

Mr Sheridan said Optus would continue to work regulatory bodies to implement new standards “including the new rules around keeping customers informed and updated”.

Former Optus chief executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin was criticised for her communication with customers in the wake of the outage. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

 Then Optus chief executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin was also criticised in the senate report for failing to keep the public and government properly informed over the incident with “proactive and timely updates”.

“Optus’ public communications during the outage were manifestly inadequate,” the report said.

Ms Bayer Rosmarin made her first public statement six hours after the incident started, it continued.

“In the committee’s view, it stretches credulity that Optus did not think to update the Australian public sooner and in a more accessible way given the severity of the circumstances.”