DistantNews
Support us
🇬🇧 United Kingdom /Disasters & Emergencies

Telstra glitches continue as 'secondary' outage hits triple-zero calls

From The Guardian · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Telstra customers continued to face issues calling triple zero on Thursday morning due to a secondary outage stemming from Wednesday's national disruption.
  • Some calls to the emergency hotline were met with error messages or attempted to connect to alternative networks.
  • Regional train services in Victoria remained suspended, and authorities promised a full investigation into the widespread telecommunications failures.

Telstra customers are still experiencing difficulties reaching triple zero, Australia's emergency number, on Thursday morning. A secondary issue, linked to Wednesday's nationwide outage, is impacting calls, with some customers receiving error messages or finding their phones attempting to connect to different networks.

In some instances calls are going straight to message bank. In some instances, 000 calls were not going through.

— Anika WellsFederal communications minister, describing the impact of the outage on emergency calls.

Telstra has apologized for the disruption, stating that the occurrence of the secondary triple-zero issue has been reduced by 90% as of Thursday morning. However, the federal minister for industry, Tim Ayres, emphasized that "100% is the only acceptable figure here." The federal communications minister, Anika Wells, reported that while the issue is largely resolved, residual problems persist. She noted that in some instances, calls were going straight to message bank or not connecting at all.

We’re deeply sorry for the impact this issue has had on so many people.

— Telstra statementApologizing for the disruption caused by the outage.

The telecommunications giant's ongoing problems have caused significant disruption across Australia. All trains on Victoria's regional rail network remain suspended, impacting the morning peak travel period. V/Line confirmed that passenger services cannot operate due to the lingering effects of the nationwide Telstra outage.

100% is the only acceptable figure here.

— Tim AyresMinister for industry, emphasizing the need for complete resolution of the emergency call issue.

Minister Ayres announced a full investigation into the outages, stating that communications and digital infrastructure are vital to the economy. He affirmed that a transparent investigative framework exists to manage these issues and apply penalties where necessary. On Wednesday, a software defect caused thousands of customers to lose phone and data access. Telstra conducted welfare checks on individuals who attempted to dial triple zero during the outage, with six customers requiring immediate assistance.

The V/Line network continues to be impacted following the nationwide Telstra telecommunications outage, with passenger services unable to operate.

— V/Line statementExplaining the suspension of regional train services.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by The Guardian in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

More Stories

From Our Blog