Optus outage: Police have ‘resolved’ and completed a welfare check for the last WA caller unaccounted for

Complaints by West Australians about mobile phone blackouts jumped nearly 40 per cent in the first three months of the year as police finalise their work from last week’s Optus triple-0 outage.

Data from the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman revealed West Australians had made 1219 complaints between January and March, with a 38.2 per cent surge in complaints regarding intermittent service or dropouts.

Complaint numbers for inadequate fault testing increased by 38.9 per cent, whilst complaints for poor mobile coverage rose by 22.2 per cent.

Wanneroo, Stirling and Joondalup also recorded the highest number of complaints, logging 103, 93 and 80 grievances in each local government area respectively.

It comes as police on Tuesday confirmed the welfare of another West Australian which was previously unaccounted for during last week’s horror Optus outage.

It was revealed on Monday afternoon that the outage lasted longer than initially reported by the telecommunications giant, with calls between 12.17am and 12.30am on Thursday also affected.

An additional seven calls went unanswered, including four from WA. Two calls were cleared by Optus, and two were referred to WA Police. Both individuals have now been accounted for, police confirmed on Tuesday.

“The second call referred to WA Police from Optus on Monday has been resolved,” a police spokesperson said.

Police Commissioner Col Blanch said the WA community “should be shocked” after Optus initially described the outage as minor and only contacted police 22 hours after it had occurred.

Mr Blanch said one of the WA men who died during the outage had made it to hospital, but said the second person had not after calls for help went unanswered.

Both men had suffered medical episodes.

Mr Blanch on Monday confirmed one of the WA men who died during the Optus triple-0 outage made it to hospital, but the second did not after their calls for help went unanswered. Both men had suffered medical episodes.

“One of the (families’) primary questions of us was what happened to triple-0,” he said.

“Like the family, we’re asking the same question. I think the whole State is and the whole country is asking those questions.

“Your heart goes out to these families. It’s tragic.

I’ve spent my whole career in law enforcement knowing that triple-0 is the thing that gets help for people, and on this occasion, it just didn’t.

The deaths of two Perth men, aged 74 and 49, and a 68-year-old woman in Adelaide have been linked to last week’s outage, which meant about 600 calls to triple-0 failed to connect.

Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti told reporters on Tuesday she was disappointed that new cases were still coming to light.

“Absolutely (I’m disappointed), and that’s what I’ve said — this is still very much a live issue in relation to what’s happening in relation to the welfare checks, the welfare of the families, and also what’s getting to the bottom of what actually transpired,” she said.

“Our focus is very much about the welfare of the families, and looking at the protocols, looking at the systems to make sure that this can’t happen again.”

Despite the backlash, Ms Saffioti again refused to be drawn into the naming of Optus Stadium, with the telco still having two years of its $50m naming rights contract signed in 2017 left.

On Monday Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas said the naming rights deal should be scrapped now telling 6PR Optus did not “deserve to have their name on our stadium”.

Mr Blanch said police are urgently seeking answers from Optus as two coronial investigations get underway in a bid to restore public confidence in the system.

The State’s ambulance union called it a “catastrophic failure” and urged an immediate review of Optus’ emergency telecommunications infrastructure.

“We cannot allow further avoidable tragedies,” an Ambulance Employees Association of WA spokesperson said.

“The fact that Optus received warnings that people couldn’t reach emergency services, yet failed to act for nearly 14 hours, is deeply disturbing.

“Every minute counts in emergency response, particularly when lives hang in the balance.”