Optus Fined $12 Million After Outage Blocks Emergency Access for Thousands

During the outage, 2,145 Triple Zero calls failed, and 369 welfare checks were missed.

A man walk past an Otus store in Sydney, Australia, on Oct. 26, 2024. Susan Mortimer/The Epoch Times

Telecom giant Optus has been fined over $12 million (US$8 million) after an investigation revealed it failed to meet emergency call service requirements during a nationwide outage last year on Nov. 8, leaving more than 2,100 people unable to access emergency assistance.

The investigation by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) claims significant failures in Optus’ handling of the incident.