Singtel's Optus outage blocks triple zero emergency calls, three deaths linked

Three failed calls involved households where a person died.

Optus has apologised after a technical failure during a planned network upgrade disrupted triple zero (000) emergency calls across South Australia, the Northern Territory and Western Australia.

The outage, which prevented a number of customers from reaching emergency services, occurred despite normal phone calls continuing to connect during the incident. Optus confirmed the fault has since been rectified.

Authorities told Optus that three of the failed emergency calls involved households where a person died. Welfare checks are continuing.

“I want to offer a sincere apology to all customers who could not connect to emergency services when they needed them most,” CEO Stephen Rue said. said. “And I offer my most sincere and heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the people who passed away. What has happened is completely unacceptable.”

Optus has launched an urgent investigation and said it will fully cooperate with regulators and share the findings publicly.

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