Govt responds to post-incident review of Optus outage

The Australian Government has announced that it will commence important reforms to improve the Emergency Call Service, as part of its official response to the review into last year’s Optus outage.

On 8 November 2023, the nationwide outage left millions of Australians and small businesses without access to communications services, with many unable to call Triple Zero. The next day the government announced a post-incident review — to be led by the former Deputy Chair of ACMA, Richard Bean — which examined emergency call arrangements, customer communications and complaints handling during and after the outage.

The review was granted a short extension in February 2024, after additional information was received from Optus related to the telco’s wilting arrangements — an industry practice where signals from mobile towers are powered down during disruptions in order for Triple Zero calls to be carried by another network. The government understands that the disruption to some Triple Zero calls during the outage was predominantly caused by a failure of Optus 3G towers to wilt — and while Optus says this issue is now resolved, the review identified a broader need to improve information flows, governance and technical assurance frameworks in the emergency calling context.

Bean submitted the review’s final report on 21 March 2024, making 18 recommendations aimed at addressing structural issues within the broader telecommunications ecosystem — as specified in the review’s terms of reference — so that the telco industry may learn from the outage. Key recommendations include:

• Implementation of new rules mandating how, what and when telecommunications carriers communicate with their customers during and after an outage.
• The introduction of a comprehensive testing regime across telecommunications networks and telecommunications devices to ensure callers can reach Triple Zero.
• The establishment of a Triple Zero custodian which will provide end-to-end oversight of the Triple Zero service.
• A review of all legislation and regulation relating to the delivery of Triple Zero.
   

The government has accepted all 18 recommendations and will begin to implement them over the next 12–18 months, with plans to:

• Establish the Triple Zero Custodian framework, initially led by the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO), to improve industry accountability and end-to-end oversight of Triple Zero.
• Implement new rules mandating how, what and when telecommunications carriers communicate with their customers during and after a major outage.
• Require industry to provide work plans to the regulator following a major outage, to explain how an impacted telco will mitigate the risk of a similar outage in future.
• Create a new comprehensive testing regime across telecommunications networks and telecommunications devices for calls to Triple Zero.
• Conduct a review and update of legislation and regulation relating to the delivery of Triple Zero.
   

“This review is the most comprehensive examination of the Triple Zero ecosystem in over a decade,” said Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland. “It means we have a workable blueprint to implement changes that will help improve the resilience of telecommunications in this country.

“The review identified opportunities every part of the system needs to do better, and these recommendations will help us do just that.

“I acknowledge those who provided feedback toward the review — including the industry, for working cooperatively and transparently — and thank Mr Bean for his work in delivering this strong report.”

Image credit: iStock.com/fizkes