A senator has claimed an elderly Australian died during Telstra’s nationwide outage on Wednesday, after failing to connect to triple-0, but police have disputed the claim.
Millions of customers were left unable to make calls, access mobile data or use electronic payment systems as a result of a technical failure at the telco’s data centres.
According to Telstra chief financial officer Michael Ackland, 300 triple-0 calls were made during that time, and of those, 79 people were unreachable when Telstra called back.
“My office has received a report of a tragic death following an apparent failure to connect to triple-0 during a life-or-death emergency amid Telstra’s nationwide outage today,” South Australian Liberal Senator Kerrynne Liddle claimed on social media.
“This death of an elderly South Australian represents a devastating failure for their family,”she continued.
“No Australian should ever be unable to connect to Triple Zero when their life depends on it.”
However, South Australia Police said they were not aware of any death as a result of the outage.
Communications minister Anika Wells also told ABC radio she was not aware of any deaths.
“I have not had it reported to me that any failure to connect to triple zero has contributed to an adverse outcome. That’s the update I have for your listeners overnight,” she said.
“Telstra will be providing an update later this morning with the latest round of numbers and the latest round of welfare check updates for Australians.”
Wells also claimed she was informed of the outage by Telstra two-and-a-half hours after it began.
“I think I would have liked to have heard earlier. I understand Telstra wants to get their information correct, even as we are experiencing this outage,” she said.
“I was informed at about 7am. I understand the fault began at 4.30am. It would seem there was some sort of delay. That will form part of the investigation. ACMA has begun a preliminary investigation.”
Telstra customers have also been warned to watch out for scam calls following the outage, after people reported scammers trying to take advantage of the situation.
“Our advice to our customers is if you get a call from someone claiming to be Telstra, asking you for details in light of today’s outage, please hang up and call us back directly,” Ackland said.
The update comes as Telstra continues to restore its network, including the secondary issue that could still be impacting triple-0 calls.
“Our welfare checks process remains in place, and we continue to advise customers who experience the issue to wait for the call to be connected via an alternative network or recall using a different phone,” the update shared on Thursday morning read.
Image: jixiang liu / Shutterstock.com
