Long search ahead for new Optus chief after Kelly Bayer Rosmarin’s resignation

Optus will take more than six months to find its next chief executive after Kelly Bayer Rosmarin was forced to resign after losing the confidence of parent company Singtel’s board.

Former Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Optus will take more than six months to find its next chief executive after Kelly Bayer Rosmarin was forced to resign after losing the confidence of parent company Singtel’s board following the collapse of its national network.

Anthony Albanese was scathing about Optus’s response to the total failure of its mobile, broadband and landline services and said he was not surprised at the Optus chief’s abrupt departure, describing the company’s handling of the outage as a “shocker” and a “complete fail”.

Her resignation has also stoked expectations that Singtel could be quietly looking at offloading the pressured Australian operations. It was the second reputational disaster on Ms Bayer Rosmarin’s watch after last year’s cyber attack, where her response – like the outage – was widely criticised.

Ms Bayer Rosmarin said on Monday that it had been an honour to serve as Optus CEO – a role she has held since April 1, 2020. But she said it was time to step down. Optus chief financial officer Michael Venter is interim CEO as a search for a permanent replacement begins.

Among Optus’s executive ranks, former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian, who is the executive in charge of managing the telco’s business customers, is expected to put her hand up for the chief executive role.

But a potential handicap to Ms Berejiklian’s ascendancy could be the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption’s finding that she engaged in serious corrupt conduct while NSW premier – a finding she is appealing.

While Ms Bayer Rosmarin has resigned with immediate effect, she said in a note to staff that: “I will of course be available to support a smooth transition”.

“On Friday I had the opportunity to appear before the Senate to expand on the cause of the network outage and how Optus recovered and responded. I was also able to communicate Optus’ commitment to restore trust and continue to serve customers,” she said.

“Having now had time for some personal reflection, I have come to the decision that my resignation is in the best interest of Optus moving forward.”

Ms Bayer Rosmarin spent Monday farewelling staff – who she described as the “stars in our universe” – rather than being forced out the door.

The Prime Minister said Communications Minister Michelle Rowland was giving more information during the November 8 outage than “Optus were giving (to) their … customers”. “So this is a really regrettable incident,” he said.

The Australian understands Ms Bayer Rosmarin requested to speak to Ms Rowland before Singtel announcing her resignation, but contact could not be made as there was a cabinet meeting under way in Canberra.

Ms Rowland learned of the resignation when she checked her phone after the cabinet meeting. She spoke to Ms Bayer Rosmarin on the phone shortly after.

“This was no doubt a difficult decision and we wish her well for her future endeavours,” Ms Rowland said. “The Optus outage experienced earlier this month caused significant disruption to the community, particularly small businesses. The government has announced it will conduct a post-incident review and we will make further announcements about the terms of reference in due course.”

Ms Bayer Rosmarin revealed at the Senate inquiry last Friday that Optus did not plan for a ­national outage, and she was not aware of the extent of the crisis until 3½ hours after the network collapsed. She praised her team for their handling of the meltdown, telling senators they “did the best they could”.

Singtel group chief executive Yuen Kuan Moon said Ms Bayer Rosmarin had led Optus during a “challenging period”. Singtel, controlled by the Singapore government, recognised that Optus needed to regain customer trust.

“We recognise the need for Optus to regain customer trust and confidence as the team works through the impact and consequences of the recent outage and continues to improve. Optus’ priority is about setting on a path of renewal for the benefit of the community and customers,” he said.

Mr Yuen said Optus was an “integral part” of Singtel’s business. “We view the events in ­recent weeks very seriously,” he said.

The Australian has revealed that last year’s cyber attack cost Optus $140m – and the damage bill from the network outage was expected to be three times higher.

Maybank, one of Asia’s biggest banks,– estimated that compensation claims could hit $400m and told Singtel investors that it expects customers to ditch Optus for rivals Telstra and TPG-owned ­Vodafone, further eroding earnings.

Additional reporting: Tansy Harcourt