WEBVTT - Is the 000 network failing?

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<v Speaker 1>Already and this is this is the Daily This is

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<v Speaker 1>the Daily OS. Oh, now it makes sense.

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<v Speaker 2>Good morning and welcome to the Daily OS. It's Tuesday,

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<v Speaker 2>the thirtieth of September. I'm Emma Gillespie, I'm Billy fitz Simons.

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<v Speaker 2>Over the weekend, Optus confirmed its second triple zero outage

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<v Speaker 2>in less than two weeks. The latest incident affected thousands

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<v Speaker 2>of New South Wales customers and it follows an outage

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<v Speaker 2>linked to four deaths earlier this month. But Optus isn't

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<v Speaker 2>the only telco to report emergency call disruptions in recent years.

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<v Speaker 2>You might remember a high profile Telstra outage in twenty

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<v Speaker 2>twenty four. So what's going on with our triple zero system?

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<v Speaker 2>In today's podcast, we are going to unpack these latest

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<v Speaker 2>outages and explain how Australia's emergency call service works, who

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<v Speaker 2>is responsible for it, and what happens when it fails.

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<v Speaker 2>We'll get into all of that in too steep dive

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<v Speaker 2>right after a quick message from our sponsor.

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<v Speaker 1>So, m OPTAs has been in the headlines a lot

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<v Speaker 1>this month, and I feel like there has been so

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<v Speaker 1>much going on that's kind of hard to know where

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<v Speaker 1>to start. But I think we should start with what

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<v Speaker 1>happened over the weekend, the last thing that has happened.

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<v Speaker 1>Do you want to tell us about that? Exactly?

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<v Speaker 2>So the latest outage, the latest Opters outage was linked

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<v Speaker 2>to a mobile phone tower in the Woollongong suburb of

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<v Speaker 2>Dapto in New South Wales that affected around four and

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<v Speaker 2>a half thousand users in the area on Sunday between

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<v Speaker 2>three am and twelve twenty pm, so for over nine hours. Now.

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<v Speaker 2>OPTAs said it's reviewed nine failed calls to triple zero

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<v Speaker 2>during that time, including one instance where a caller required

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<v Speaker 2>an ambulance and used another phone to contact emergency services.

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<v Speaker 2>But the telco said that all of those who were

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<v Speaker 2>impacted are okay to use its own language and that

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<v Speaker 2>the issue has been fixed.

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<v Speaker 1>And so, so the reason why this made such big

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<v Speaker 1>news is because it's actually the second outage this month.

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<v Speaker 1>Do you want to tell us about the first one?

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<v Speaker 2>Yes? So. On September eighteenth, Optus experienced a technical failure

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<v Speaker 2>is what it called it, during a network upgrade. Now,

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<v Speaker 2>this failure impacted triple zero calls in large parts of

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<v Speaker 2>the country across multiple states, including South Australia, the Northern

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<v Speaker 2>Territory and Western Australia. There were also some calls in

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<v Speaker 2>New South Wales that were impacted, and that's because they

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<v Speaker 2>were closer to the SA border, so those calls relied

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<v Speaker 2>on South Australian mobile towers. Optus said that it happened

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<v Speaker 2>during a regular upgrade, so it was conducting a routine

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<v Speaker 2>upgrade in the early hours of the eighteenth of September,

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<v Speaker 2>a Thursday, and it said that its initial testing and

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<v Speaker 2>monitoring after that upgrade was rolled out didn't indicate any issues.

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<v Speaker 2>So on Optus's side, things all looked fine, but it

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<v Speaker 2>became aware of a problem when two customers contacted the

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<v Speaker 2>telcoat report that they couldn't contact Triple zero.

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<v Speaker 1>And how did Optus respond to that?

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<v Speaker 2>So, according to opt to CEO Stephen Rue, once it

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<v Speaker 2>was notified, quote, we stopped the upgrade, restoring Triple zero

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<v Speaker 2>and notified relevant stakeholders including police and government agencies. Approximately

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<v Speaker 2>six hundred calls were identified to have failed during that outage,

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<v Speaker 2>which lasted around thirteen hours, and once it had pulled

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<v Speaker 2>all the records from the network and had all the

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<v Speaker 2>call details of all the failed Triple zero calls, Optus

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<v Speaker 2>commenced welfare checks, So that involves reaching out to every

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<v Speaker 2>single person that tried to call Triple zero and couldn't.

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<v Speaker 2>And during those checks, the CEO, Stephen Rue, confirmed three

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<v Speaker 2>people had died after the household was unable to contact

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<v Speaker 2>emergency services.

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<v Speaker 1>What do we know about those deaths?

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<v Speaker 2>So the deaths include a sixty eight year old woman

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<v Speaker 2>from South Australia, a seventy four year old man in

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<v Speaker 2>Western Australia, and an eight week old boy. But we

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<v Speaker 2>have since heard from SA Police that while the family

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<v Speaker 2>of that baby was impacted by the outage, it's unlikely

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<v Speaker 2>to have contributed to.

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<v Speaker 1>The death of the baby.

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<v Speaker 2>So preliminary investigations by SA Police say that the grandmother

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<v Speaker 2>of the boy attempted to contact Triple zero using her phone.

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<v Speaker 2>When she couldn't get through, she immediately used another mobile

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<v Speaker 2>telephone in the house which did successfully connect to Triple zero.

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<v Speaker 2>A couple of days after the outage, we heard about

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<v Speaker 2>an additional death, a fourth death linked to this outage,

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<v Speaker 2>and that was reported in WA a forty nine year

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<v Speaker 2>old Perth man. His body was discovered by police during

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<v Speaker 2>a welfare check. That welfare check was triggered by his

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<v Speaker 2>failed call and do.

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<v Speaker 1>We know what exactly caused this outage?

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<v Speaker 2>So the Optus CEO has blamed the outage on human error,

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<v Speaker 2>basically what he has called an employee failure to follow

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<v Speaker 2>established protocols for a routine firewall upgrade. And we don't

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<v Speaker 2>have you know, a lot more than that. There's some

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<v Speaker 2>technical terminology around that failure, but I don't think it

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<v Speaker 2>changes the fact that this is a human error that

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<v Speaker 2>Optics is attributing the outage to. As for the most

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<v Speaker 2>recent outage, that one near Wollongong over the weekend, at

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<v Speaker 2>the time of recording, we don't actually know what happened.

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<v Speaker 2>OPTAs said it's continuing to investigate the cause of the issue,

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<v Speaker 2>but that service has been restored. So we don't know

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<v Speaker 2>what happened near Wollongong, but we do know that users

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<v Speaker 2>in that area can now contact Triple zero without any issues.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, so we're still learning more about that most recent outage,

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<v Speaker 1>but the earlier one has been linked to for desk.

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<v Speaker 1>Like you said, what I've been surprised to learn about

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<v Speaker 1>this is that what telephone company you're with does actually

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<v Speaker 1>impact your ability to call Triple zero. And so I

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<v Speaker 1>guess my question is how does Australia's emergency call system

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<v Speaker 1>actually work? Like why is it connected to what tele

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<v Speaker 1>phone company you're is?

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<v Speaker 2>So in a perfect situation, if everything is going smoothly,

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<v Speaker 2>it shouldn't actually matter who your telco is, and I'll

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<v Speaker 2>explain why. What's really important to understand is that Telstra

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<v Speaker 2>plays a huge role in our Triple zero service. It's

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<v Speaker 2>recognized by the federal government as the quote emergency call

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<v Speaker 2>person for triple zero, also for one one two. If

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<v Speaker 2>you call one one two, that's like the international emergency number,

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<v Speaker 2>no matter what country you're in, one one two will

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<v Speaker 2>connect you with the relevant emergency services.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, wait pause, two things that I've learned. Yes, so

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<v Speaker 1>Telstra is, you said, the emergency contact person.

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<v Speaker 2>So that's what the kind of communications legislation, the Regulatory

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<v Speaker 2>Framework has designated as its title. But what that means

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<v Speaker 2>is that Telstra is responsible for providing the service that

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<v Speaker 2>answers calls two triple zero, oh see, and it transfers

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<v Speaker 2>them to the requested emergency service organization with relevant details.

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<v Speaker 2>So when a person calls triple zero, they will speak

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<v Speaker 2>to a Telstra operator who will designate their call to

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<v Speaker 2>emergency services. So that's the person that answers the call

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<v Speaker 2>and says, you know, do you need police, ambulance, firefighters?

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<v Speaker 2>What's going on?

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<v Speaker 1>Are you? Saye?

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<v Speaker 2>What do you need? And then they will pass that

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<v Speaker 2>information on to the relevant authority.

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<v Speaker 1>Got it? And then the second thing I learned, I've

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<v Speaker 1>never heard of one one two before.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, this was something that I didn't know either. So

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<v Speaker 2>one one two apparently is the number if you are

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<v Speaker 2>overseas and you don't know the number for wherever you are,

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<v Speaker 2>it's one one too, not nine to one one.

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<v Speaker 1>Interesting, and does that mean that if you can't if

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<v Speaker 1>you are in the situation where there is an outage,

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<v Speaker 1>maybe you don't know that there's an adage, but for

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<v Speaker 1>some reason you're not able to call Triple zero, do

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<v Speaker 1>you then call one one two and it should work.

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<v Speaker 2>If it's not working, as in these outages that we

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<v Speaker 2>are talking about today, if those systems aren't working, then

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<v Speaker 2>it doesn't matter if you call Triple zero or one

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<v Speaker 2>one two. So Telstra is the national operator of Triple zero,

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<v Speaker 2>regardless of which mobile network you're on. But this is

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<v Speaker 2>where it kind of gets a little bit more complicated.

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<v Speaker 2>Telstra operates the Triple zero service, but all mobile networks

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<v Speaker 2>have obligations to ensure your call can reach Telstra. So

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<v Speaker 2>if for whatever reason, you cannot connect to the network

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<v Speaker 2>that you're subscribed to, be that Optus Votera Phone TPG,

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<v Speaker 2>those telcos have an obligation to ensure that your phone

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<v Speaker 2>will attempt to roam and connect via another carrier's network.

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<v Speaker 2>This is called camping on. Bear with me because I

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<v Speaker 2>know it's a little bit complex, but basically, if your

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<v Speaker 2>home network, let's say you're an OPTI customer, If your

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<v Speaker 2>home phone she's voted, well, full disclosure, I am with

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<v Speaker 2>OPTAs still oh perfect. If your home network isn't working,

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<v Speaker 2>your phone should automatically connect to any available network for

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<v Speaker 2>emergency calls. So Optis, voter Phone, TPG, Telstra, they all

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<v Speaker 2>have a relationship where they work together to ensure that

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<v Speaker 2>this camping on procedure can work. And they work together

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<v Speaker 2>to make that work because they have to buy law.

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<v Speaker 2>So in Australia, those networks are required to take emergency

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<v Speaker 2>calls from customers of competing networks through that mechanism.

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<v Speaker 1>But it's a camping on process that failed here, we think,

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<v Speaker 1>so okay to just recap where we are. Telstra is

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<v Speaker 1>responsible for the triple zero network. And so when anyone

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<v Speaker 1>who's with any telephone company calls triple zero, they are

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<v Speaker 1>speaking to a Telstra provider, a Telstra person.

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<v Speaker 2>Yes, but Telstra's not responsible for the whole network. All

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<v Speaker 2>providers are responsible for the whole network.

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<v Speaker 1>Got it. They're just responsible for who you're speaking to

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<v Speaker 1>on the other side of the phone, exactly, got it.

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<v Speaker 1>But your provider, so that could be Optis in your case,

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<v Speaker 1>Votaphone in my case. They are responsible for making sure

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<v Speaker 1>that you can always reach triple zero. And if they're

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<v Speaker 1>not able to provide that or facilitate that, then another

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<v Speaker 1>network needs to be able to pick up your call. Exactly.

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<v Speaker 2>So those providers are responsible for ensuring customers can reach

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<v Speaker 2>triple zero, including through their network or through camping on procedures.

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<v Speaker 2>And Telstra are responsible for making sure that your call

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<v Speaker 2>will be answered by a person at a desk who

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<v Speaker 2>will facilitate passing it on to the relevant emergency services.

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<v Speaker 1>Got it. And so I guess the next question is

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<v Speaker 1>why did this camping on process, this fall back process

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<v Speaker 1>not work here?

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<v Speaker 2>So Optus is still investigating why, But the problem seems

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<v Speaker 2>to be that the Optus network couldn't actually detect that

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<v Speaker 2>there was any issue, So testing in place after the

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<v Speaker 2>upgrade on that bigger outage appeared to show that everything

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<v Speaker 2>was working. Everything seemed fine as far as opters could tell.

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<v Speaker 2>So the specific part of the network that handles emergency

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<v Speaker 2>calls needs to know it's broken in order to activate

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<v Speaker 2>the camping on. So there needs to be a red

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<v Speaker 2>flag that says, Okay, this person has tried to call

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<v Speaker 2>Triple zero and they're not getting through with our cell towers,

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<v Speaker 2>so we need to put their call through a votaphone

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<v Speaker 2>tower or a Telstra tower over there. Optus, plainly, it seems,

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<v Speaker 2>didn't know that that issue was occurring. So last week

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<v Speaker 2>it announced an independent review into the technical failure on

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<v Speaker 2>the eighteenth of September that's the big one that was

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<v Speaker 2>linked to multiple deaths. It said. The review will quote

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<v Speaker 2>identify the causes and canvas the applicable processes, protocols, and

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<v Speaker 2>operations of the incident, and it will also examine the

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<v Speaker 2>operational management of Triple zero calls in the Optus network

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<v Speaker 2>and the actions that Optus took in response to the incident,

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<v Speaker 2>including whether or not it adhered to its legislative requirements,

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<v Speaker 2>So the findings from that are expected to be handed

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<v Speaker 2>down by the end of the year.

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<v Speaker 1>I think it's fair to say that it's quite a

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<v Speaker 1>significant failure. I think Optus has basically said that themselves. Ye,

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<v Speaker 1>they've owned it and they've apologized ye. So what I'm

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<v Speaker 1>interested in is what happens now. I know there is

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<v Speaker 1>the Australian Communications and Media Authority. They are responsible for

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<v Speaker 1>regulating this space. So now that this failure has happened,

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<v Speaker 1>what does AKMA do in response?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so AKMA basically responds by ensuring or investigating telco's

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<v Speaker 2>like OPTAs to see if they have carried out their obligations,

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<v Speaker 2>that they've met their legal requirements and basically to look

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<v Speaker 2>into what they did before and after the outage. So

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<v Speaker 2>AKMA can impose significant penalties and in terms of what

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<v Speaker 2>OPTAs might be preparing itself for. This isn't the first

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<v Speaker 2>time OPTAs has been in trouble under investigation for a

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<v Speaker 2>similar issue. It's also not the first time an AUSSI

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<v Speaker 2>telco has been in trouble for a similar issue. There

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<v Speaker 2>was a Telstra outage in twenty twenty four which was

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<v Speaker 2>to do with the triple zero call Center, so a

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<v Speaker 2>little bit different. There were breaches identified there and a

0:13:00.400 --> 0:13:04.360
<v Speaker 2>three million dollar penalty. But for Optis, you know, there

0:13:04.480 --> 0:13:07.760
<v Speaker 2>was this twenty twenty three outage that accrued a total

0:13:07.800 --> 0:13:11.480
<v Speaker 2>penalty of more than twelve million dollars from AKMA. So

0:13:11.559 --> 0:13:15.920
<v Speaker 2>that outage disrupted services for over ten million customers. It

0:13:16.000 --> 0:13:18.960
<v Speaker 2>impacted the ability of some calls to get through to

0:13:19.080 --> 0:13:23.160
<v Speaker 2>triple zero. Ten million is huge. It's a bigger scale

0:13:23.280 --> 0:13:26.280
<v Speaker 2>than we've seen in the last few weeks for Optis,

0:13:26.640 --> 0:13:29.160
<v Speaker 2>But the outcomes of the most recent outages you could argue,

0:13:29.160 --> 0:13:32.520
<v Speaker 2>have been much more devastating. So that event in twenty

0:13:32.559 --> 0:13:35.120
<v Speaker 2>twenty three led to a government review. There were a

0:13:35.160 --> 0:13:39.480
<v Speaker 2>bunch of recommendations aimed at preventing a recurrence, but there's

0:13:39.480 --> 0:13:40.520
<v Speaker 2>obviously been a failure.

0:13:40.880 --> 0:13:44.400
<v Speaker 1>Has AKMA said what they will do about this failure?

0:13:44.679 --> 0:13:48.560
<v Speaker 2>So AKMA has launched an investigation into Optis regarding the

0:13:48.600 --> 0:13:53.880
<v Speaker 2>September eighteen outage. That will involve closely examining not just

0:13:54.040 --> 0:13:57.280
<v Speaker 2>the outage in the fallout, but how did Optis communicate

0:13:57.520 --> 0:14:01.920
<v Speaker 2>with its customers to the public, governments, etc. How did

0:14:01.920 --> 0:14:04.920
<v Speaker 2>it notify or when did it notify Telstra as the

0:14:04.920 --> 0:14:06.319
<v Speaker 2>emergency call person.

0:14:06.200 --> 0:14:07.240
<v Speaker 1>About the outage.

0:14:07.720 --> 0:14:11.199
<v Speaker 2>How did it speak with National Emergency Management and AKMA

0:14:11.280 --> 0:14:13.960
<v Speaker 2>and the government about what was going on. If Optis

0:14:14.000 --> 0:14:18.800
<v Speaker 2>is found to have failed under these obligations to those stakeholders,

0:14:19.080 --> 0:14:22.360
<v Speaker 2>it will face serious consequences. As mentioned, there was that

0:14:22.440 --> 0:14:25.320
<v Speaker 2>twelve million dollar fine for the twenty twenty three outage.

0:14:25.480 --> 0:14:27.960
<v Speaker 2>Given that there already has been a penalty, that there

0:14:28.000 --> 0:14:31.200
<v Speaker 2>already has been action, I think AKMA will be taking

0:14:31.200 --> 0:14:33.880
<v Speaker 2>that into account. That this is not the first time

0:14:33.960 --> 0:14:37.960
<v Speaker 2>that there has been potential breaches Bioptus. There may have

0:14:38.040 --> 0:14:42.600
<v Speaker 2>been a failure to enact recommendations by authorities about how

0:14:42.600 --> 0:14:45.440
<v Speaker 2>to prevent this from happening again. So I would say

0:14:45.480 --> 0:14:48.200
<v Speaker 2>AKMA will be coming down sternly on Optis.

0:14:48.200 --> 0:14:48.440
<v Speaker 1>Here.

0:14:48.920 --> 0:14:52.720
<v Speaker 2>The Communications Minister Anika Wells has said that Optis failed

0:14:52.720 --> 0:14:56.320
<v Speaker 2>the Australian people. Prime Minister Anthony Albernizi has called the

0:14:56.320 --> 0:14:58.920
<v Speaker 2>telco's behavior completely unacceptable.

0:14:59.560 --> 0:15:02.560
<v Speaker 1>Yesterday I saw some headlines that the opposition leader Susan

0:15:02.640 --> 0:15:06.680
<v Speaker 1>Lee is calling for a complete review of how Triple

0:15:06.760 --> 0:15:08.600
<v Speaker 1>zero is working in the country.

0:15:09.000 --> 0:15:11.400
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, all right, So the coalition has said that the

0:15:11.480 --> 0:15:14.920
<v Speaker 2>actions of Optus are not good enough. It's referred to

0:15:15.440 --> 0:15:19.320
<v Speaker 2>that review over the twenty twenty three emergency outage. There

0:15:19.360 --> 0:15:23.880
<v Speaker 2>were recommendations handed down that have been delayed, and essentially

0:15:24.120 --> 0:15:28.120
<v Speaker 2>the Communication Minister has said that some of those oversights

0:15:28.160 --> 0:15:32.080
<v Speaker 2>will be fast tracked to kind of improve accountability and

0:15:32.240 --> 0:15:35.680
<v Speaker 2>end to end oversight of Triple zero. But Susan Lee,

0:15:35.760 --> 0:15:39.200
<v Speaker 2>the Opposition leader, said that Optus has now been responsible

0:15:39.240 --> 0:15:42.840
<v Speaker 2>for three catastrophic failures and she is calling for, as

0:15:42.840 --> 0:15:46.160
<v Speaker 2>you mentioned, Billy, an independent inquiry into the whole Triple

0:15:46.280 --> 0:15:49.920
<v Speaker 2>zero ecosystem. In that press conference on Monday, Lee said

0:15:50.040 --> 0:15:54.280
<v Speaker 2>governments have a responsibility here. The ecosystem needs an urgent inquiry,

0:15:54.360 --> 0:15:57.160
<v Speaker 2>not just by the regulator, not just by tiptoeing around

0:15:57.160 --> 0:15:59.720
<v Speaker 2>the government, but to stand up and fight for Australians

0:15:59.760 --> 0:16:04.360
<v Speaker 2>who deserve answers. OPTAs is under incredible scrutiny at all

0:16:04.440 --> 0:16:07.800
<v Speaker 2>levels of government and across all parties. The South Australian

0:16:07.840 --> 0:16:11.880
<v Speaker 2>government has criticized it for how it communicated about the outage,

0:16:11.960 --> 0:16:15.000
<v Speaker 2>noting delays between the company finding out about the issue

0:16:15.240 --> 0:16:19.680
<v Speaker 2>and actually notifying authorities. The South Australian Premier's office was

0:16:19.680 --> 0:16:22.680
<v Speaker 2>only notified of the incident at the same time as

0:16:22.720 --> 0:16:26.320
<v Speaker 2>a press conference from the OPTA CEO. So you know,

0:16:26.520 --> 0:16:28.520
<v Speaker 2>we can all probably agree that's not a great way

0:16:28.680 --> 0:16:30.880
<v Speaker 2>for officials to have to learn about something like.

0:16:30.840 --> 0:16:33.280
<v Speaker 1>This, okay, And so in terms of what happens now,

0:16:33.360 --> 0:16:36.280
<v Speaker 1>so we have this AKMA review that they have said

0:16:36.320 --> 0:16:38.960
<v Speaker 1>that they are doing, we have OPTAs saying that they

0:16:39.000 --> 0:16:43.000
<v Speaker 1>are conducting their own independent review, and then we also

0:16:43.160 --> 0:16:47.400
<v Speaker 1>have this potential independent inquiry that Susan Lee, the opposition

0:16:47.520 --> 0:16:51.400
<v Speaker 1>leader is pushing for. So a lot of different reviews

0:16:51.520 --> 0:16:54.120
<v Speaker 1>potentially going on, and it will be interesting to see

0:16:54.120 --> 0:16:55.840
<v Speaker 1>what the result of those are exactly.

0:16:55.880 --> 0:16:58.440
<v Speaker 2>Clearly something is missing from the current system, but it

0:16:58.440 --> 0:17:01.200
<v Speaker 2>does feel like a lot of attention is being paid

0:17:01.400 --> 0:17:04.480
<v Speaker 2>to the system to Optus's actions, and I'm sure we

0:17:04.520 --> 0:17:06.399
<v Speaker 2>will know more in the coming weeks and months.

0:17:06.720 --> 0:17:08.480
<v Speaker 1>And thank you so much for explaining it to us,

0:17:08.560 --> 0:17:10.720
<v Speaker 1>Thanks Billy, and thank you so much for listening to

0:17:10.800 --> 0:17:13.119
<v Speaker 1>this episode of The Daily Oz. We'll be back this

0:17:13.200 --> 0:17:16.600
<v Speaker 1>afternoon with your evening headlines, but until then, have a

0:17:16.640 --> 0:17:23.000
<v Speaker 1>great day. My name is Lily Maddon and I'm a

0:17:23.000 --> 0:17:27.720
<v Speaker 1>proud Arunda Bungelung Caalcuttin woman from Gadigol Country. The Daily

0:17:27.840 --> 0:17:30.880
<v Speaker 1>Oz acknowledges that this podcast is recorded on the lands

0:17:30.880 --> 0:17:34.120
<v Speaker 1>of the Gadighl people and pays respect to all Aboriginal

0:17:34.200 --> 0:17:37.119
<v Speaker 1>and Torres Strait Island and nations. We pay our respects

0:17:37.280 --> 0:17:40.320
<v Speaker 1>to the first peoples of these countries, both past and present.