Key facts
- Telstra CEO Vicki Brady apologized for a national outage caused by a software fault in its time-keeping systems.
- The outage disrupted mobile, Eftpos, and rail services for nearly five hours.
Telstra CEO Vicki Brady apologized for a national outage that disrupted services, including emergency calls, and admitted the company was aware of risks associated with its time-keeping systems. An investigation is underway into a death potentially linked to the outage.
The outage highlights critical infrastructure vulnerabilities in telecommunications and raises serious questions about Telstra's risk management and emergency response capabilities, particularly concerning the potential link to a death during the service disruption.
Telstra CEO Vicki Brady has issued a public apology for a recent national outage that crippled its mobile network and other essential services for nearly five hours. The outage, caused by a software fault in the company's time-telling systems that incorrectly set the date to November 2006, also affected Eftpos and rail services.
Brady acknowledged that Telstra was aware of the critical nature of its time-keeping systems and is investigating why backup measures failed to prevent the widespread disruption. She expressed deep regret for the impact on customers and the broader community, understanding the frustration caused by service unavailability.
Adding to the crisis, South Australian police are investigating a death that occurred during the outage. They are examining whether there is a link to problems with calling the emergency number triple zero. Police Commissioner Grant Stevens stated that the deceased's spouse attempted to call triple zero without success and used an alternative phone. A report will be prepared for the coroner.
However, Telstra's Chief Financial Officer, Michael Ackland, indicated that the company has found no record of failed triple zero calls from the specific numbers involved, nor any active outages in the affected area at the time. He confirmed that a related call to triple zero was successfully made from another number.
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