• Singtel issues an apology for an emergency call outage linked to four deaths in Australia.
• The outage was triggered by a deviation from procedures during a network upgrade.
• An independent review has been announced to investigate the incident.
• The outage affected hundreds of emergency calls, primarily in South Australia, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory.
• Singtel and Optus have faced scrutiny over previous operational failures.

Singtel, Singapore's largest telecom operator, has issued a formal apology after a major outage affecting its Australian subsidiary Optus disrupted emergency call services and has been linked to four deaths. The incident occurred on September 18, 2025, when a deviation from standard procedures during a network firewall upgrade led to a 13-hour outage, impacting approximately 600 customers who could not reach emergency services. Singtel's Group CEO Yuen Kuan Moon expressed deep sorrow for the affected families, stating that the company is committed to preventing such failures in the future, according to channelnewsasia and aljazeera.

While reports indicate that three to four people died during the outage due to their inability to connect with emergency services, South Australian police clarified that one reported death is unlikely linked to the service failure. The outage affected areas including South Australia, Western Australia, and parts of New South Wales, according to timesofindia and channelnewsasia.

In response to the outage, Optus announced the appointment of Dr. Kerry Schott to lead an independent review of the incident, which will assess the technical failures, operational processes, and the handling of emergency calls. Optus CEO Stephen Rue also expressed profound regret for the loss of life resulting from the service failure, and emphasized that their organization is undergoing a transformation to enhance service reliability and accountability, as reported by aljazeera and timesofindia.

The incident is particularly concerning given Optus's recent history of operational failures, including a $66 million fine for misleading sales practices and a $12 million fine for a previous emergency service outage. This pattern of regulatory scrutiny raises questions about the company's accountability and service reliability moving forward, according to aljazeera and channelnewsasia.