Optus holding firm with systems reviews to commence after meeting with Federal Communications Minister

Australia’s Federal Minister for Communications Anika Wells today met with Optus CEO Stephen Rue, the Optus Chairman John Arthur and Singtel’s Group CEO Yuen Kuan Moon after the disastrous outage two weeks ago affecting triple zero services.

Following the meeting Minister Wells told the meeting she had conveyed the “Completely unacceptable” nature of the outages to the meeting, and asked for assurances that Optus and their parent company Singtel were prioritising the triple zero systems. She also noted that the CEO Stephen Rue had “a lot of work to do”.

This afternoon, Optus Chairman John Arthur issued a statement which makes it plain that not only will there be the independent investigation into the incident, but also a consulting firm would be brought in to ensure the network was up to the standards expected under the legislation.

Mr Arthur said “I welcome the constructive discussion at today’s meeting involving Communications Minister Anika Wells, Singtel Group Chief Executive Officer Yuen Kuan Moon, Optus CEO Stephen Rue and me.

Optus reaffirmed its commitment to restoring the Australian community’s confidence in the Optus mobile network and our responsibility within the national Triple Zero ecosystem.

As agreed with the Minister, the Board has appointed independent expertise to provide additional oversight of our mobile network. 

On behalf of the Board, I have appointed Kearney, a leading global consulting firm, and they will begin immediate oversight, quality assurance and verification as Optus uplifts its mobile network management, processes and services consistent with required standards. 

During the performance of their work Kearney will be regularly reporting directly to the Optus CEO and Board.

We will also cooperate fully and transparently with the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s investigation into this issue. 

The Optus Board, which includes Singtel Group Chief Executive Officer Yuen Kuan Moon, is confident that Optus CEO Stephen Rue and the management team, supported by the best external expertise, will undertake the critical reforms to continue to transform the business, and strengthen the Optus mobile network, restoring the confidence and trust of the Australian public.

The Board’s highest priority is ensuring that Australians can rely on Triple Zero when it matters most, and we would once again like to apologise to all those impacted by the 18 September outage.