• Optus outage affected emergency calls for 13 hours, linked to four fatalities.
• Communications Minister condemned Optus's handling of the situation.
• Government launching investigations, with potential penalties for the telecom giant.

Optus, Australia's second-largest telecommunications provider, is under scrutiny following a network outage that lasted 13 hours and has been linked to the deaths of four individuals, including an eight-week-old boy and a 68-year-old woman. This failure reportedly impacted over 600 emergency calls across South Australia, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory on September 19, with some issues also reported in New South Wales. The Australian government has expressed deep concern over the incident, stating that Optus "let Australians down" by failing to ensure emergency services were accessible, according to SCMP and India Times.

Communications Minister Anika Wells criticized Optus for its inadequate response and vowed to investigate the company’s "unacceptable" failure to notify authorities during the outage. The company only informed regulators and the public after the issue was resolved, which goes against standard operational procedures, and has resulted in outrage regarding its handling of the crisis. Wells asserted that telecommunications providers must maintain the capacity to facilitate emergency calls at all times, according to Reuters and BBC.

Optus CEO Stephen Rue stated that the outage was triggered by a departure from established processes during a network firewall update and acknowledged that existing protocols were not followed when customer complaints were reported. Rue further expressed deep regret over the loss of lives and offered an apology to affected families as well as the public. Despite longstanding complaints about their service, Optus has admitted to being unaware of the ongoing failures for hours, highlighting serious operational shortcomings, according to Channel News Asia and India Times.

Due to the severity of this incident and the repeated incidents of service failures, the Australian Media and Communications Authority has launched a formal investigation, which may lead to further penalties for Optus. The company had already faced a fine of A$12 million in 2023 for similar failures, raising significant questions about its operational reliability and responsibilities as a telecom provider in Australia, according to SCMP and India Times.