Overview
- The Senate opens its inquiry on Monday, with Optus CEO Stephen Rue, chair John Arthur, former chair Paul O'Sullivan and CFO Michael Venter set to be questioned alongside ACMA officials.
- The September 18 failure blocked hundreds of emergency calls and has been linked to three deaths, with separate investigations by Optus and the regulator continuing.
- Rue has apologised for the outage, calling it unacceptable and saying he is accountable as the company examines what went wrong.
- The probe was initiated jointly by the Greens and the Coalition, and senators have urged Communications Minister Anika Wells to appear, though a minister cannot be compelled.
- Rules that took effect on Saturday require telcos to notify ACMA and emergency services of outages in real time, and the opposition wants Singtel called to explain investment and operations.