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Hadisur Rahman, JadeTimes Staff

H. Rahman is a Jadetimes news reporter covering the USA

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Image Source: Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY

Singtel on Wednesday expressed deep regret over a recent emergency call outage in Australia involving its subsidiary, Optus, which has been linked to four fatalities.

In a statement to the Singapore Exchange, Singtel Group CEO Yuen Kuan Moon said the company was “deeply sorry” and extended condolences to the families affected. The disruption, which lasted 13 hours, was caused by a deviation from standard procedures during a network firewall upgrade, according to Optus. It potentially affected around 600 customers, preventing some from contacting emergency services.

“Our hearts go out to the families and friends of those who have passed away,” Yuen said. He added that Singtel is working closely with the Optus board and management to ensure a “thorough investigation” and prevent future occurrences.

Optus, Australia’s second-largest telecom provider, has appointed Dr Kerry Schott to lead an independent review into the technical failure. The review will examine the causes of the outage, assess operational management of Triple Zero calls, and evaluate Optus’ adherence to policies, procedures, and legislative requirements. Findings are expected before the end of the year and will be reported to the Optus board, with plans to make the report public.

Optus Chairman John Arthur also issued an apology, acknowledging the failure in accountability. “What has occurred is clearly unacceptable, and on behalf of the board I apologise for this failure in our accountability to all those who relied on our Triple Zero services,” he said.

Yuen noted that Optus has been undergoing a transformation under CEO Stephen Rue, appointed 11 months ago, with Singtel supporting efforts to improve processes, resiliency, and reliability of critical services. Over the past five years, Singtel has invested more than A$9.3 billion in Optus, primarily to strengthen network infrastructure across Australia.

“As Optus continues its transformation, we remain committed to accelerating changes needed to ensure such incidents do not recur,” Yuen said.