Singtel Boss Blames Human Error for Optus Triple-0 Failures as Minister Demands External Oversight
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Singtel chief executive Yuen Kuan Moon blamed human error for Optus’s recent triple-0 emergency call failures Tuesday, telling reporters the telecommunications company’s staff missed critical steps in a process that left Australians unable to reach emergency services.
Moon’s comments came after a tense meeting with Communications Minister Annika Wells, who declared the situation “completely unacceptable” and demanded Optus appoint external oversight to restore public confidence in the nation’s emergency call system.
“On the 18th of September, Stephen has explained that it is really due to a step that was missed by someone in Optus, a process issue, a people issue that didn’t follow the proper steps that resulted in the outage,” Moon told reporters outside the Sydney meeting.
The Singtel boss, whose company owns Optus, deflected repeated questions about whether embattled Optus chief executive Stephen Rue retained his full support following the failures. When pressed directly, Moon said only that “the board will address” the question of Rue’s future.
Wells emerged from the meeting minutes earlier with a stark message for one of Australia’s largest telecommunications carriers.
“You’ll be unsurprised to hear I conveyed our collective conviction that this is completely unacceptable and they cannot allow this to happen again,” Wells said. “I sought assurances from both Optus and Singtel that their utmost priority is restoring the confidence of Australians in their triple zero system.”
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The minister stopped short of calling for Rue’s resignation but made clear his position was precarious.
“I think the CEO of Optus has a lot of work to do, given these two outages have happened in short succession and has given rise to a very serious lack of confidence in both Optus and their ability to deliver triple zero services to Australians when they need it most,” Wells said.
The Sept. 18 incident marked the latest in a series of failures that have plagued Optus over the past three years. Details about a second recent outage remained unclear Tuesday, with Moon acknowledging “the information is still unclear” and saying officials were “still investigating that.”
Optus board chair John Arthur, speaking alongside Moon at the hastily arranged news conference, rejected suggestions the failures stemmed from inadequate investment by Singtel in the Australian network.
“The incident on the 18th was a process-related incident,” Arthur said. “People made mistakes. It was not a question of money. It was not a question of investment.”
Arthur added that Singtel would address “the extent of Singtel’s investment in Australia, which, of course, goes beyond Optus” at a later date.
The Optus board has commissioned an independent review led by Australian business figure Kerry Stokes, according to Moon. He said the board agreed findings would be “shared openly with everyone in due time,” though no timeline was provided.
Rue joined Optus 11 months ago with a mandate to transform the troubled telecommunications giant following previous network failures and a massive data breach in 2022 that exposed personal information of nearly 10 million customers.
Moon defended the timeline for Rue’s reform efforts
.
“It is very early days. It takes time to transform a company,” Moon said. “Stephen has identified, and I believe so, in the initial investigation of the 18th September incident. It is due to a people issue. And it takes time to transform and change the people. And he is here to provide the solution.”
Wells made clear the Australian government viewed the latest failures as a compliance issue rather than a systemic problem requiring new regulations. She pointed to recommendations from the Bean Review, a comprehensive inquiry into Australia’s triple-0 system that delivered findings the government already implemented.
“On the face of it, on the facts that we know so far, this is a compliance issue of Optus in their inability to comply with those recommendations rather than further holistic recommendations being required to address the triple zero outages in the system,” Wells said. “I think Optus accepts that. This is a compliance issue on their part.”
The minister said Optus would address “the human error that was involved here” and “the technical errors that were involved here,” but emphasized “no one is shying away from the fact that Optus has not complied with their obligations to the Australian people.”
Wells outlined a new requirement for external accountability that she said would help restore public trust.
“I have also asked Optus to appoint external accountability to make sure that Australians can take advice, not just from Optus themselves, but from an independent and external party, that the systems in place in Optus will serve Australians when they need it the most,” Wells said.
When pressed to explain what external accountability meant, Arthur said Optus would work with the government on implementing the requirement.
“I can assure you that Optus is committed to working with the government to do whatever needs to be done here,” Arthur said. “We are always welcome to external perspectives and external views, and that remains the case here.”
He added: “What it means is that we are going to get all of the expertise and help that we need to make sure we make things right here.”
Wells acknowledged her own relative inexperience in the telecommunications portfolio, saying “I’m still a new minister to the industry, so I would say I’m listening to everybody at the moment.”
The minister said she was “fast-tracking our 000 Guardian legislation that will give confidence to Australians about the specific role that 000 plays for us in our country with disaster season ahead.”
“And I’ll be doing that as quickly as I can to try and give confidence to summer coming,” Wells added.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority has launched an investigation into the outages. Wells said significant consequences awaited Optus once that investigation concluded.
“I have said that Optus will face significant consequences as a result of what has happened here, but it is for me as the Minister to take those decisions after the ACMA investigation is complete,” Wells said.
She described the regulator’s involvement as appropriate given the nature of the failures.
“It is the right thing for the independent regulator to conduct an investigation into what has happened here, and specifically on the facts of it, a compliance issue by Optus, one of our telecommunications carriers,” Wells said. “Once that independent regulator investigation is complete, it is for the Australian Government to hand down any further penalties beyond what you can expect from the regulator and any further system-wide change that may be required to give Australians confidence back.”
The minister declined to specify what penalties might be imposed, saying only that officials “must be looking at big fines.”
Wells framed the failures as a fundamental breach of trust between Australians and a critical public service.
“I guess it’s a visceral fear. It is a worst nightmare that when you need help most and you call for it, that call doesn’t go through,” Wells said. “So for me, it’s about what do Australians need? I think Australians need confidence in their telcos.”
She expressed frustration that Australians could no longer trust Optus’s own assurances about fixing problems.
“I think what I’ve asked Optus to do is to find a way to have an external account into their systems so that Australians can have confidence from the external investigation and advice, rather than just hearing from Optus again, that it will all be fine,” Wells said.
Questions about whether Singtel remained a suitable owner of Optus went unanswered during the brief news conference. Arthur said officials needed to leave for another meeting, cutting off further questions.
The Sept. 18 incident came roughly two years after a nationwide Optus network outage in November 2022 that left more than 10 million customers without phone or internet service for up to 14 hours. That outage also disrupted emergency calls and drew widespread criticism.
The 2022 incident was followed by a data breach the same year that exposed personal information including driver’s license and passport numbers for 9.8 million current and former customers. Former Optus chief executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin resigned in November 2023 following intense scrutiny over the company’s handling of both crises.
Singtel appointed Rue, a telecommunications veteran with experience at multiple carriers, to rebuild Optus’s reputation and improve network reliability. The company also brought in Moon to join the Optus board as part of its reform efforts.
Moon emphasized Tuesday that the board viewed Rue’s tenure as a work in progress.
“We brought in Stephen 11 months ago to transform Optus, to really address the issues that we’ve had since 2022-23,” Moon said. When asked how Rue was performing, Moon replied: “It is very early days. It takes time to transform a company.”
Arthur echoed that assessment, saying “the board is satisfied that he’s making progress” while acknowledging “it’s a work in progress.”
The Bean Review, referenced by Wells, was established following the 2022 outage to examine Australia’s emergency call system and recommend improvements. The review delivered comprehensive recommendations that telecommunications carriers were required to implement.
Wells said the government had already conducted “a full, long, holistic, independent inquiry” through the Bean Review and implemented its recommendations. She said the current problems stemmed from Optus’s failure to follow those recommendations rather than inadequacies in the regulatory framework.
When asked whether Optus should face questions about its compliance with obligations imposed when Singtel acquired the company, Wells said officials had discussed “some of the minutiae of that today.”
She said discussions covered “what could be done differently” following the recent outages “to give confidence back to Australians and to make sure that the system as a whole is not working as a matrix, but as a cohesive unit that Australians can trust.”
The failures have raised questions about the reliability of Australia’s telecommunications infrastructure heading into summer, when bushfires and other natural disasters typically strain emergency services.
Wells emphasized the urgency of restoring public confidence before disaster season begins.
“This is for Optus to take accountability for. They will take accountability for it,” Wells said. “We will make sure, as the Australian government holds Optus to account.”
Arthur said officials would eventually detail the scope of Singtel’s investment in its Australian operations, which include assets beyond Optus, but provided no specifics about timing or amounts.
“In due course, we will be talking about the extent of Singtel’s investment in Australia, which, of course, goes beyond Optus,” Arthur said before departing the news conference.
The exchange left unresolved questions about Rue’s future, the timeline for implementing external oversight, and what specific penalties Optus might face following the ACMA investigation. Both companies pledged cooperation with government authorities but offered few concrete details about how they would prevent future failures.
Wells delivered a final message to Optus as she concluded her remarks.
“They’ve got the message,” she said.
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