Overview
- An independent review found a routine upgrade went wrong, leaving 455 of 605 emergency calls unable to connect across SA, WA, the NT and far west NSW and the incident was linked to two deaths.
- Optus engineers sent incorrect instructions and Nokia followed an outdated procedure that skipped diverting traffic, while the work was wrongly tagged both no‑impact and urgent, bypassing senior review.
- Early alarms were given only cursory attention and five customer warnings were not escalated, leaving Optus and Nokia unaware for about 13 hours before the issue was identified and then fixed within minutes.
- The Optus board accepted all 21 recommendations, including moving operations onshore, strengthening change controls, improving Triple Zero testing and crisis response, and pursuing penalties up to termination for those responsible.
- The review highlighted wider weaknesses in emergency-call resilience, noting some devices can take 40–60 seconds to re-route to another network, as ACMA’s probe and Senate scrutiny continue alongside sector-wide resilience efforts.