Optus execs to face grilling over triple-zero outage
Senior Optus executives and senior government officials will face the music at a parliamentary inquiry into their response to the triple zero outage linked to the deaths of three people.
A Senate inquiry into the debacle was given the green light last week and its first hearing will be held on Monday.
Optus chief executive Stephen Rue is among those expected to face a barrage of questions, along with the telco’s chairman John Arthur, former chairman Paul O’Sullivan and chief financial officer Michael Venter.
Officials from communications watchdog the Australian Communications and Media Authority will also find themselves in the hot seat.
Senators hope to better understand what caused the September outage, which prevented hundreds of Australians from calling for triple zero.
The investigation will also examine the effectiveness of emergency arrangements designed to shift customers to another network in the event of disruption to telecommunications services.
Liberal supporter Sarah Henderson, who sits on the Senate committee, said she was determined to find out exactly what went wrong.
“The coalition will lay the fire at the feet of Optus, the government, the regulator and the hapless communications minister,” he said in a statement.
Senator Henderson, a former opposition communications spokesman, is calling on Communications Minister Anika Wells to lead the investigation to explain apparent inconsistencies about when her office was notified of the outage.
“We will leave no stone unturned to uncover the truth and hold accountable those responsible for what went wrong,” Senator Henderson said.
The communications watchdog and Optus are investigating the outage.
The new rules, which came into force on Saturday, require telecommunications companies to report outages to the communications watchdog and emergency services in real time.
