Optus reveals three people died after a tech failure

Optus has revealed three people have died following a technical failure that impacted triple-0 calls in South Australia, the Northern Territory and Western Australia.

Optus chief executive Stephen Rue told reporters on Friday evening that two people died in SA and one died in WA.

“Yesterday, Optus conducted a network upgrade and within this process a technical failure impacted triple-0 calls,” he said.

“This resulted in the failure of a number of triple-0 calls ... our investigation is ongoing but at this stage I can confirm that approximately 600 customers were potentially impacted, of which a proportion of their calls did not go through.

“I can confirm that this technical failure has now been rectified.

“I have been advised that during the process of conducting welfare checks, three of the triple-0 calls involved households where a person tragically passed away.

“Please know that these welfare checks are ongoing. I want to offer a sincere apology to all customers who could not connect to emergency services when they needed them most.”

He also offered condolences to people who lost loved ones.

“I am so sorry for your loss,” he said.

“What has happened is completely unacceptable. We have let you down.

“You have my assurance that we are conducting a thorough investigation and once concluded, we will share the facts of the incident publicly.”

“We will co-operate fully and transparently with all relevant government agencies and regulatory bodies while we investigate this matter further.”

Last year, the telecommunications company was fined $12m after thousands of people were unable to access emergency services during a national outage.

At the time, Optus said it would never happen again.

“I share your frustration,” Mr Rue said when asked about it.

“This should not have happened. We’re doing a thorough investigation.

“The facts are still being established ... once they once they are established, we will make them public.”