Telstra CEO Vicki Brady returned from a European holiday to face a media firestorm and a Senate inquiry after a national mobile outage on Wednesday, caused by a software fault in the company's time-telling systems. The defect led the network to believe it was November 2006, triggering a 'digital domino chain fall' that knocked millions of users offline and disrupted triple-zero emergency calls.
Outage Details and Impact
The outage began at 7am Sydney time, affecting approximately 25 million Australian mobile services. It took train services offline, stopped some EV chargers, prevented Eftpos transactions, and hindered some customers from reaching triple zero. Telstra conducted 639 welfare checks on triple-zero users, with seven requiring assistance after initially failing to connect to emergency services.
Brady confirmed the cause was a software fault in the time-keeping systems, which are 'very well known' and 'critical' in mobile networks. A similar outage occurred in Jersey in 2020 due to an identical time-reset change, according to Guardian Australia.
Executive Accountability and Senate Inquiry
Telstra executives are set to front a snap meeting of a triple-zero parliamentary inquiry as early as next week. Federal Minister Jason Clare stated, 'People could have lost their lives and that’s why there’s an investigation by Acma.' Communications Minister Anika Wells said trust 'stands in peril' and she would 'hold Telstra’s feet to the fire,' adding that the telco's response was not good enough.
Deputy ACMA Chair Adam Suckling said Telstra has 45 days to provide a report explaining the cause and steps to prevent recurrence. The company could face civil penalties of up to $30 million under new powers introduced after the 2025 Optus outage.
Regulatory and Industry Concerns
RMIT Associate Professor Mark Gregory called for a complete rebuild of Australia's telecommunications legislation, stating it was written in 1997 'back when the internet was brand new.' He noted that modern uses like connecting railway networks over mobile were not anticipated.
Wells acknowledged improvements since the Optus outage but said more work is needed to close the gap between 30-year-old regulations and modern customer expectations.
Brady apologised and spoke to the family of an elderly woman who died during the outage, though Telstra and SA police concluded the outage was not responsible. She committed to transparency and implementing necessary changes.
