Editorial: Optus response to massive outage not acceptable

The reputational damage done to Optus from Wednesday’s mass outage is catastrophic. And it was only exacerbated by the company’s CEO. There must be a reckoning, writes The Editor.

Connectivity and communication have never been so deeply integrated into our daily lives, whether it is for business, family or social reasons.

This is why the response by Optus to the unprecedented national service outage was far from acceptable.

The service was down from about 4am on Wednesday, by midday the problem was yet to be diagnosed and it was midafternoon before some services were being restored.

Despite this, the telco remained nearly silent on the issue and its cause. Chaos was sown in its footsteps.

There is no doubt that compensation will have to be paid to customers, but it is hard to believe that, whatever amount it is, it will be enough to cover the damage.

Companies, small and large, were left unable to be paid as EFTPOS systems went down.

Calls to suppliers or from customers were unable to be made or answered, each one meaning they were losing business.

Optus customer Maddison Wallace checks her phone during Wednesday mass outage. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

One enterprising and trusting Townsville cafe resorted to handing out handwritten IOU notes to customers, hoping they would be honest enough to pay them back.

Organising school pick-ups, calling rideshares and messaging loved ones became impossible.

Lives were even at stake as hospitals and doctors were impacted, Kids Helpline went down and the Queensland Poisons Information Centre helpline was offline.

The reputational damage done to Optus is catastrophic.

It was only exacerbated by the actions of Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin.

During a nationwide outage, her attempt to communicate with the public and customers was baffling at best and combative at worst.

After hours without publicly addressing one of the biggest breakdowns in Australian telecommunication history, she called in to a Sydney radio station that was not nationally syndicated.

She claimed it was “very clear what our customers need to do” and put it on the media to communicate Optus’s message, which at that point was a two-sentence statement.

Ms Bayer Rosmarin later appeared on a Melbourne radio station and became defensive when asked about the telco’s recent record.

She said in the three-and-a-half years she had been CEO this was “the first” nationwide outage.

The comment blatantly ignored last year’s hack, which saw 10 million Australians potentially have their private data stolen by cyber criminals.

Now, just over a year on from that disaster, Optus’s 10 million customers were once again left on hold.

Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin. Source: Supplied.

During a crisis of this level, it is important for companies and leaders to be open, transparent and communicative.

None of this was shown by Optus. It seems to have learned little from the 2022 cyber-attack and the public relations fallout.

Even on Wednesday it was not entirely clear what caused the problem, beyond vague talk of a “fault deep in the core network”.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland was none too subtle when she said it was vital for Optus to be transparent and timely in its update to customers, calling for it to “step up and communicate with people”.

There will need to be a reckoning.

This includes a proper investigation by both Optus and the federal government, not just to find out went wrong, but also how to stop it from happening again.

As well as timely compensation payments, Optus needs to do this and make the results public if it wants to rebuild its shattered reputation.

AWARDS RECOGNISE QUEENSLAND’S BEST

Congratulations to all the winners and nominees in the Australian of the Year for Queensland awards announced on Wednesday night.

From discovering dinosaur bones in outback Winton to making a splash at the Olympics, the winners have all helped shape our great state.

Australian of the Year for Queensland Marco Renai founded Men of Business – an academy to help at-risk young men succeed.

After raising money to open the academy three years ago, Mr Renai has now had thousands of students graduate from his program.

It’s these tireless efforts to have a positive impact that help build a successful community to live in.

Other worthy recipients of awards were Reverend Robyn and Reverend Dr Lindsay Burch in the Senior category, Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Emma McKeon for Young Queenslander and fossil hunter David Elliot for Local Hero.

Originally published as Editorial: Optus response to massive outage not acceptable