Telstra blames software failure for nationwide network outage

Telstra has pinpointed a failure in a key time-keeping software system as the root cause of the widespread network outage that crippled services across Australia last week. The telecommunications giant stated that a lack of a software update for this critical system allowed the failure to "ripple slowly across the network," causing significant disruptions to mobile phone services, trains, and retail operations.

In a submission ahead of a Senate inquiry, Telstra revealed that its maintenance teams were not informed about a specific design change. This oversight meant they were unaware of how the system would behave upon resetting, which ultimately worsened the impact of the outage. The company emphasized that while redundancy measures were in place, they did not prevent this particular failure.

Chief Executive Vicki Brady is scheduled to testify at the Senate inquiry on Friday, where she is expected to provide further details on the incident. The company's submission outlines the technical reasons behind the failure, aiming to address concerns raised by the public and government officials.

The outage caused considerable chaos, highlighting the reliance of essential services and businesses on Telstra's network. The Senate inquiry aims to scrutinize the causes of the failure and assess Telstra's response, as well as explore measures to prevent future occurrences.