Federal government announces investigation into Optus outage, minister urges telco consider compensation
source : www.abc.net.au
The federal government has announced an investigation into Wednesday’s massive Optus outage.
Most important points:
- The federal government and the communications regulator have launched an investigation into the Optus outage
- The Communications Minister says Optus should also consider compensating customers
- Optus says it would like to ‘thank’ customers for their patience
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said her department would conduct the review, adding it was crucial the telecommunications industry learned from the incident.
She said the Australian Communications and Media Authority had already launched an investigation into whether emergency calls on mobile phones were hampered during the outage.
“It is very important that we investigate compliance here, but also how improvements can be made in the future to ensure the safety of all Australians,” Ms Rowland said.
The minister said no network was immune to a large-scale outage and it was appropriate to take stock after the incident.
Minister says Optus should look at compensating customers
The half-day outage shut down Melbourne’s train lines, disrupted hospitals and emergency services, prevented digital payments for some businesses and blocked others from accessing systems that required two-factor authentication on their phones.
Businesses are still counting the toll on their trade, but some have told the ABC they have lost more than half their customers.
In a statement, Optus said it would fully cooperate with the department’s and communications authority’s reviews.
Its vice-president of regulatory and public affairs, Andrew Sheridan, said Optus again apologized for the outage and was looking for ways to thank customers for their patience.
Ms Rowland said the community expected Optus to right the wrongs done to its customers.
“I think Australians are reasonable people. They expect that when a company has wronged them, that company will do the right thing,” Ms Rowland told Channel Nine.
‘There is the problem of customers who have been affected and may demand compensation.
“It seems very reasonable that Optus would look at how they can try to compensate people for this.”
The Telecommunications Ombudsman has advised companies to keep receipts so they can prove their loss of income during the outage.
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source : www.abc.net.au
