Overview
- TPG said a customer in Wentworth Falls, NSW, could not reach Triple Zero on September 24 from a Samsung handset and connected to emergency services about five minutes later via the National Relay Service.
- The telco is seeking verification from NSW Ambulance after being informed by Telstra that the September call might be connected to a fatality.
- TPG previously confirmed a separate November 13 death in Sydney involving a Samsung device running software incompatible with 4G emergency calling after 3G shutdowns.
- At the hearing, TPG cited about 10,000 devices needing software updates, roughly 8,000 requiring replacement, around 7,500 already blocked, and only about 550 customers accepting free replacements, while also asserting that hundreds of thousands of non‑compliant phones have been blocked from its network.
- Lawmakers pressed industry and officials after revelations that the communications department learned of the September incident on the day, Telstra knew then as well, and TPG later told the department there was no death, with executives from Telstra, Samsung, Nokia and Ericsson due to give evidence.