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Three people have died after a triple-zero outage caused by an Optus technical failure struck South Australia, Northern Territory and Western Australia, the head of Optus has said.
Optus CEO Stephen Rue said “approximately 600 customers were potentially impacted, of which a proportion of their calls did not go through”.
“I have been advised that during the process of conducting welfare checks, three of the triple-zero calls involved households where a person tragically passed away,” he said at a press conference on Friday afternoon.
Two of the deceased were from South Australia and one from Western Australia, Rue confirmed.
“I offer my sincere and heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the people who passed away. I am so sorry for your loss. What has happened is completely unacceptable. We have let you down.”
The technical failure has now been rectified and welfare checks are ongoing, he added.
“You have my assurance that we are conducting a thorough investigation and once concluded, we will share the facts of the incident publicly.”
“We will cooperate fully and transparently with all relevant government agencies and regulatory bodies while we investigate this matter further.”
Communications Minister Anika Wells said the failure was “incredibly serious and unacceptable” and said it would be “thoroughly investigated”.
“The impact of this failure has had tragic consequences and my personal thoughts are with those who have lost a loved one,” Wells said in a statement.
“While details are still emerging, no triple-zero outage is acceptable.
“Optus and all telecommunication providers have obligations to ensure they carry emergency services calls.”
