Sydney, Australia — The CEO of Singtel Group, Yuen Kuan Moon, has publicly expressed condolences and regret following a significant outage at its subsidiary, Optus, which has been implicated in the tragic deaths of three individuals. The incident severely disrupted emergency services, preventing some Australians from reaching critical assistance during a life-threatening situation.
In his statement, Moon acknowledged the gravity of the circumstances. “We are profoundly sorry to learn about the network failure at Optus that affected triple-0 calls, and devastatingly, that individuals were unable to connect with emergency services when they needed to most,” he said. He further emphasized that the company is committed to thoroughly investigating the outage to ensure such an occurrence does not happen again in the future.
The failure first emerged late on a Friday afternoon, prompting inquiries into how the situation escalated. Moon extended heartfelt condolences to the families who lost loved ones, reaffirming that the company is collaborating with Optus management to uncover the root causes of the incident.
Optus CEO Stephen Rue also addressed the situation, revealing that the outage stemmed from a breakdown in procedural adherence during a scheduled network firewall upgrade. “Initial findings indicate that the standard steps, which have been successfully implemented in the past, were not executed on the first night of our operation,” Rue explained. He clarified that the initial step of diverting calls was overlooked, which ultimately resulted in the outage.
Rue maintained that the incident was not due to workforce reductions or a shortage of funding from Singtel. “This is strictly a procedural issue,” he stated. In response to the outage, Rue assured the public that the triple-0 network is being diligently monitored on a 24/7 basis to ensure reliability.
As the crisis continues to unfold, the Federal Court has imposed a hefty $100 million fine on Optus, with Justice Patrick O’Sullivan noting the company’s conduct as “extremely serious” and “appalling.” In an effort to address the shortcomings revealed by this incident, the Optus board has appointed Dr. Kerry Schott AO to lead an independent review. Dr. Schott, an accomplished executive with extensive experience in both public and private sectors, will assess the operational protocols surrounding triple-0 calls and identify the failures that led to the outage on September 18, 2025.
The independent review aims to scrutinize Optus’s operational management during emergency call handling and will evaluate the effectiveness of existing policies and procedures. Dr. Schott’s investigation is expected to provide critical insights that will facilitate necessary changes and improvements in the future.
In the wake of this incident, Singtel has reiterated its commitment to investing in infrastructure, having allocated over $9.3 billion in the last five years to bolster network capabilities across Australia. The company is determined to enhance communication reliability for all Australian users moving forward, pledging to uphold the highest standards of service delivery.