Telstra chief executive Vicki Brady returned from overseas on Friday (10 July), saying that she was “deeply sorry” for the incident that impacted services, including 000 calls, on Wednesday and Thursday.
“We have let our customers and Australians down. And, for that, I am deeply sorry,” she said.
“I understand how much Australians rely on us to keep in touch, to work, and stay safe.
“I also understand the broader impact on the community when services go down, from things like payments to transport.
“It’s extremely frustrating and disruptive when services aren’t available, and I am sorry for the impact that this has had on so many people.”
Brady added that Telstra takes the nation’s trust in emergency services “extremely seriously”, following reports that the outages resulted in thousands being unable to dial 000.
South Australian Senator Kerrynne Liddle initially stated that she received reports that a “tragic death” had occurred as a result of the outage; however, South Australian police later confirmed that the death was not caused by the outage.
Police said the elderly woman’s partner had called their neighbour, who is a nurse, after she was found unresponsive. The nurse evaluated the woman before calling 000. Both calls connected without issue.
Unfortunately, the woman passed away in the hospital hours after arriving.
“It is unfortunate their loved one’s death was placed in the public arena in the manner it was when it need not have been,” police said in a statement.
Telstra chief financial officer Michael Ackland also said that there were no records of failed calls to emergency services from the woman’s address.
That being said, over 600 calls to emergency services reportedly failed. Seven people needed assistance, but there were otherwise no negative events recorded.
Communications Minister Anika Wells criticised Liddle for not contacting the police following the initial report.
“I am staggered that it took the SA Police going to door-knock the SA senator to exert her to provide the information that she had so that we could get to the bottom of this,” she told reporters on Friday.
“I am relieved that the outcome here is that there is no causative link between the outage and what is a tragic loss for the family.”
Telstra could now face a $30 million fine, thanks to new powers assigned to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).
“We are investigating whether Telstra has complied with its legal and regulatory obligations under the law, including a range of new measures that the government introduced to beef up the Triple Zero system,” said ACMA deputy chair Adam Suckling.
Brady acknowledged that the incident was difficult and that Telstra needed to take responsibility.
“I did not want or expect to be dealing with another mass outage so soon after the Optus incident,” she said.
“The last few days have been really difficult for many Australians, and now that Telstra has resolved its outage, it is time for Telstra to face the music.”
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