Senate inquiry calls to speed up compensation from telco outages, saying Optus ‘failed millions of Australians’

Compensation for future telco outages would be sped-up and “tailored” as part of sweeping changes to the industry outlined in a Senate report into Optus’s national meltdown.

Businesses dismissed a free data offer from former Optus chief executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin as ‘woefully inadequate’. Picture: AAP

Compensation for future telco outages would be faster and “tailored” as part of sweeping changes to the industry outlined in a Senate report into Optus’s ­national meltdown.

About 10 million Australians were cut off from phone and internet services during the day-long outage last year, with almost 2700 not able to contact triple-0.

Optus offered free data as compensation but businesses rejected the offer, saying it was “not enough” to recover lost profits, with the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry branding the gesture “woefully inadequate”.

A Senate inquiry recommended the government direct the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman “to expedite the development of a tailored dispute-resolution mechanism” to “ensure appropriate compensation in the event of mass telecommunications outages”.

The ombudsman can make decisions relating to compensation that are binding on its members up to the value of $100,000. Analysts at Maybank said Optus could be forced to pay up to $400m under an agreement with Australia’s communications regulator.

But former chief executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin – who resigned weeks after the outage – said customers suffered losses of $1 to $2 on the day of the outage, and the free data was more meaningful.

This calculation was based on services charged, not on losses from not being able to access Optus’s service, such as small businesses being able to accept bookings or payments.

Inquiry chair and Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said: “Optus failed millions of Australians and small businesses.” She said people expect to be able to call triple-0 in an emergency, ­access internet banking “or to contact their kids or grandparents via their mobile phone”.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland. Picture: Martin Ollman / NewsWire

The inquiry has also recommended telcos be classified as “critical infrastructure providers” and provide “more transparent communications”.

“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 said.

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

“This Senate inquiry report … requires Optus and other telcos to work towards better network safeguards and a higher standard of public accountability. These recommendations mean telcos need to work with the Australian government and co-operate with one another to deliver large-scale network roaming and mutual ­assistance arrangements in the event of future outages.”

Optus vice-president of government and regulatory affairs Andrew Sheridan said the telco remained “focused on ongoing investment in the resilience” of its network and was co-operating with the Australian Communications and Media Authority, which was also reviewing Optus’s ­response to the outage.

“Ensuring the safety of our customers is of the utmost importance to Optus” he said.

“Since the outage last year, Optus has conducted a review of its systems and processes and as a result, we have made important changes to our ability to manage emergency calls during network challenges and our processes.

“The Optus customer team has engaged with customers who were impacted during the outage about their specific situations and our specialised team was made available to offer any ongoing support that was appropriate.”