The recent outage at Optus, Australia’s second-largest telecommunications provider, turned an embarrassing blunder into a nightmare as new details about its communication missteps emerged. To clarify, Optus first said no more than ten calls experienced issues from the massive September 18 outage. As our investigation continued, we revealed that more than 600 other calls were truly affected. At least three tragic deaths have been attributed to this outage, leading to multiple Congressional investigations into the incident.
On the day of the outage, Optus sent an email to the minister’s office. They asserted that there were “no detrimental effects on any individual” and shrugged off the occurrence as a “temporary service interruption.” All of these claims have been heavily challenged when the actual magnitude of the disruption came to light over time. The gaps in Optus’s information have raised questions about the company’s internal process and external communication.
Inaccurate Information and Its Consequences
The first emails we were able to send to the minister’s office estimated a tiny fraction of the impact that ended up happening. Optus subsequently admitted that only ten calls could have been impacted. Deeper investigations found this to be a major undercount, with more than 600 calls affected during the outage.
The emails sent on September 18 were sent to an old address. They don’t monitor this address more than two days a week at best. This limited ad hoc monitoring meant that the minister’s office was not getting timely oversight. As a result, by the time correct information was communicated, the outage had already occurred.
“This was referred to as a minor outage,” – Anika Wells, minister.
The breakdown in communication had tragic outcomes. It led to three deaths as rescue services were unable to get to people in need due to the cut emergency services. The goal of the investigation is to figure out how this tragic death came about. It will look into why Optus wasn’t able to deliver real-time updates, a must in such a critical period.
Ongoing Inquiries and Accountability
Multiple investigations started almost immediately after the crash. They will discover why and how the outage happened and hold Optus accountable for not being able to communicate. These questions will assess the failure to operate that led to the outage. They will look closely at how well the company controlled the flow of information in the days that followed.
Second, we will be looking at why Optus overstated the scope of impact in their first communications. Their description of a “minor outage” does not match the reality of the thousands of calls affected. This gap speaks to possible systems failures in accountability throughout the organization.
“We need to understand why this incorrect information was provided,” – Anika Wells.
Messages are uncoordinated, combined with what seems to be an absence of interpersonal communications failures. Yet, they occurred on a day when a department entirely devoted to communications was at work. The very act that Optus supplied wrong information puts the focus back on their standards for crisis response and public messaging amidst emergencies.
Implications for Future Communication Protocols
As investigations play out, stakeholders on all sides are deeply interested in finding ways to prevent similar tragedies from occurring again. It’s hard to overstate the importance of communicating clearly and quickly. This is critical when lives are literally at stake.
This reconciliation of the terms of reference is intended to facilitate accountability on the part of Optus and better communication practices across the telecommunications sector. Making sure that good data is getting to the right decision-makers in a timely manner is critical to protecting public safety.
