Australian mobile network operator Telstra has been fined more than AU$3 million ($1.9m) following its 90-minute Triple Zero outage earlier this year. Thenetwork operator has paid the fine as confirmed by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), which said the fine was handed to the telco for a failure to comply with emergency call rules during a technical disruption at its Triple Zero emergency call center.
ACMA noted that its investigation found Telstra initiated a contingency process to transfer calls received during the disruption, using a list of backup phone numbers. The regulator noted, however, that several of the phone numbers in the list were incorrect, resulting in 127 calls not being transferred to emergency services.
“Telstra, as the emergency call provider, is at the center of this critical public safety service. As such, it must have fail-safe systems and processes in place at all times. In this circumstance its systems and contingency plans failed people in real need,” said ACMA member and consumer lead Samantha Yorke. “Telstra has been open and apologetic about the outage, communicated effectively to the public, and took a variety of immediate actions when problems were identified. These actions go a long way to restoring the community’s trust in this critical service."
