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The November outage impacted rail networks, hospital communications and businesses across the country, and cost Bayer Rosmarin her job. Optus is still searching for her replacement.
“I think 10 million people have variously expressed dissatisfaction with the impact of the outage,” Gebert said. “I’m sure everybody’s learnt a lot and there are a number of government reviews that will increase everyone’s focus on ensuring that many lessons are learnt.”
This Friday, Optus rivals Telstra and TPG, along with the competition regulator ACCC and the communications regulator ACMA, will front a second Senate hearing into the outage.
In positive news for the sector, overall complaints recorded between October and December were down 18 per cent on the same time a year earlier, a result Gebert said was due to telcos improving their complaints handling processes. Complaints about internet services, however, jumped by 23.3 per cent.
The top three local government areas with complaints were Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Moreton Bay, while the top three providers to receive complaints were Telstra, Optus and Vodafone.
Meanwhile, the government on Wednesday directed the ACMA to make it mandatory for telcos to provide financial hardship assistance to customers experiencing difficulties paying their bills.
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“In 2024, staying connected is an essential part of everyday life. It’s how Australians keep in touch with loved ones, run businesses and engage with government,” Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said.
“That’s why it is critical telcos do all they can to keep customers connected when they are experiencing difficulties paying their bills. This new industry standard will mean Australian consumers and small businesses are better supported by telcos when they need it most.”
Optus said the November outage was the result of a routine software upgrade from its parent company Singtel that took its network offline and forced staff to physically reboot services.
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