Telstra, Australia's largest mobile network powering about 25 million services, suffered a nationwide outage for most of Wednesday morning, an event Prime Minister Anthony Albanese labelled 'deeply concerning' and 'disruptive'. The outage began around 4am, with reports on Down Detector escalating to 7,000 complaints by 5:30am. Users reported inability to make calls, access mobile internet, and even call triple-zero.
Widespread impact across sectors
The six-hour outage revealed heavy reliance on Telstra. Some Eftpos machines failed, leaving customers unable to pay. A Hungry Jacks in Wollongong faced issues, as reported on Down Detector. An Adelaide online business owner told Guardian Australia she had no website interactions during the outage, calling it 'very frustrating'. Fears arose of a repeat of the 2023 Optus outage, which affected 600 households and led to three deaths.
Telstra's CFO Michael Ackland confirmed 333 welfare checks were conducted for failed triple-zero calls; six people needed assistance and were connected to emergency services, while police performed physical checks on 79 unreachable individuals.
Transport and EV disruptions
Victoria's V/Line regional train network ground to a halt during peak hour, with two NSW regional lines also affected. V/Line advised passengers to defer travel. Luke, a 62-year-old passenger, missed an appointment with Telstra due to the outage. Adnan Choudhury's wife, returning from Gladstone to Brisbane in an electric car, couldn't charge at Bundaberg because the EV station's app and network were down. She waited at McDonald's until service restored.
Telstra apologizes, rules out cyber attack
At a 10am press conference, Ackland reported 90% of services restored, reaching 100% by 5pm. He blamed a 'software defect' and apologized. He warned against testing triple-zero calls. Shadow communications minister Sarah Henderson admitted testing triple-zero, defending it as part of her job. Communications minister Anika Wells cut her holiday short, calling for telco improvements. She dismissed Barnaby Joyce's suggestion of foreign interference as 'irresponsible'. Ackland confirmed no cyber incident, but warned of fraudsters impersonating Telstra.
Continued fallout
Regional rail disruptions in Victoria and NSW extended into Thursday. V/Line advised against travel, offering limited coach services. Meg Wilson, queuing for a replacement bus to Ballarat, was told to 'make your own way home' due to delays. She had no alternatives. V/Line spokesperson said services remained impacted and thanked passengers for patience.
