Three people died after Optus network failure impacted triple-0 calls
Submitted 2 days ago by Nath@aussie.zone to australia@aussie.zone
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-19/optus-network-failure-three-people-dead-triple-zero/105796226
Submitted 2 days ago by Nath@aussie.zone to australia@aussie.zone
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-19/optus-network-failure-three-people-dead-triple-zero/105796226
Nath@aussie.zone 2 days ago
It’s fascinating how when you step back, this is a regular business that sells a service. Little different to any subscription service.
And the service is reliable almost 100% of the time. But because we the customers take that reliability for granted, the business is blamed if something bad happens in that 0.0001 of the time.
This is a regular company. In theory, they could close up shop and just leave. But they’re being treated as though the very thought of not being able to use the service is a massive deal.
This same company makes you sign an agreement when you join up saying you understand their service is not 100% reliable and should not be used if you require perfect access to emergency services.
Imagine your ISP getting a 12 million dollar fine when they have an outage.
PeterLG@theblower.au 2 days ago
@Nath
The issue is the guarantee that Optus have with the government regarding the infrastructure they have installed; it involves their provision of access to 000.
That must not be interrupted and mitigations must be in place to route around any disruption, extending to cross connecting to other infrastructure providers without delay. Only if all carriers are involved (eg. natural disaster taking out an areas cell towers) does the liability reduce. They're still required to re-establish connectivity as soon as possible though.
In failing to meet that guarantee, they're liable for severe penalties.
And no, as infrastructure providers involved with 000/112, they can't up stakes and leave just because they feel like it.
(Ex-PMG/Telecom/Telstra bloke)
Taleya@aussie.zone 2 days ago
Bit of a false correlation - your average ISP doesn’t own and resell infrastructure, which is what failed here.
Optus infrastructure went down - infrastructure they not only use themselves but also resell and arrange with other infrastructure providers to provide service extensions to. And it went down for preventable reasons, and it was down an EXTREMELY long time for something that is such a fundamental part of the business. It was a huge fuckup that had massive ramifications.
Nath@aussie.zone 2 days ago
I’m not defending or particularly interested in the outage. If their service is unsatisfactory, leave them. That’s business and they probably deserve it.
What I find amazing is that they’re being held to a standard that no other private business is held to. I see no fundamental difference between this company offering a service and any other.
Forget tech, compare them to Macca’s. Imagine a service outage that meant Macca’s couldn’t sell you burgers today. You’d shrug and take your business elsewhere.
Optus is getting brought before the government for a “Please explain” and a $12 Million fine. Yes, they own infrastructure. That’s my point. It’s theirs. They can in theory decide to just stop offering their product tomorrow.
Somehow we have reached a point where enough people totally rely on their service that they face this level of scrutiny when they stuff up.