Live: Nationwide Optus outage impacts millions, including hospitals

Millions of Australians are without mobile phone and internet connections due to a nationwide Optus outage. Individuals, businesses, and critical infrastructure including hospitals have all been affected. Our live blog has further updates following the developing story.

“We are aware of an outage impacting our customers,” a statement shared on Optus’ social media channels reads. “Our teams are working to restore services as soon as possible. We will provide updates as soon as possible. We apologise sincerely to our customers.”

As reported by The Guardian Australia, phone lines for hospitals across the country are down, with the outage also impacting public transport networks. Multiple other carriers that use Optus networks, like Amaysim, Dodo, and Aussie Broadband’s mobile service have also been interrupted.

The cause of the Optus outage is currently unknown, with Communications Minister Michelle Rowland due to hold a press conference at 11 AM AEDT. In an interview on ABC Radio National, she said the government is working to find out what happened, which is not believed to be hacking-related, and when services are expected to resume.

“[The severity of the outage] would indicate, potentially, a deep network problem, and one that is significant,” Rowland said. “There’s limited information at this stage, but Optus is trying to get to the bottom of it.”

A contrite Optus Chief Executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin spoke on ABC Radio Sydney via WhatsApp, although there’s still no clear answer as to what happened or an expected recovery time.

“We’re really really sorry that this outage has occurred and we’re working to restore services for our customers as a priority,” Bayer Rosmarin said.

Further Optus outage details, who’s impacted

Customers started reporting interrupted services after 3 AM according to Downdetector, a site where people update and view real-time outage data. Thousands of reports spiked between 5-6 AM as Australians woke to the news. Retailers that use the Optus network to deliver mobile phone or internet services include the following:

• Amaysim
• Aussie Broadband
• Catch Connect
• Coles Mobile
• Dodo
• Moose Mobile
• Spintel
• Southern Phone

It’s also been reported that emergency calls made to 000 from Optus landline phones aren’t working. However, 000 calls made from a mobile should still connect when within range of another network.

We’ll keep you updated as we learn more, with further information expected once Minister Rowland addresses the nation. It adds further stress to Optus customers who fell victim to a significant data breach last year.

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