Doctors and carers unable to call emergency services as Optus suffered one of the worst outages in Australian history.
The outage was first reported at 4am on Wednesday, with Optus mobile users saying they were unable to make calls or send texts as the internet network and home broadband were also down.
Optus users in Brisbane, Perth, Sydney, Melbourne, the ACT, Tasmania and Adelaide have all reported blackouts with the network.
The Optus outage is also impacting the country’s medical system, with some staff unable to use the phone in life-threatening situations.
One caregiver explained that he could not call an ambulance for his patient, who was suffering from a heart attack.
“One of my patients went into cardiac arrest, I couldn’t call an ambulance,” he told ABC radio on Wednesday morning.
“I had to run out into the street and borrow a phone from someone walking their dog.”
Optus customer and anesthetist Daniel said he was on call for emergency operations overnight when he noticed the network was down.
“I couldn’t make calls or use the internet,” Daniel told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Another Optus customer told 2GB Radio that his wife panicked when she realized her phone was not working.
“My wife is a specialist doctor who oversees kidney transplants… The panic set in when she realized her phone was out of order,” he said.
He added that she was unavailable due to the network outage.
The outage is also affecting communications with hospitals, with Sydney’s Westmead Private Hospital reporting their phone lines going down.
‘Due to Optus’ national outage, unfortunately all our telephone lines have been switched off. If you would like to contact the hospital, please email us at admissions.WMP@ramsayhealth.com.au,” the hospital wrote on Facebook.
Austin Hospital, in Melbourne’s north-eastern suburbs, has confirmed that employees cannot make outside calls due to the Optus service being unavailable.
“Austin Health is experiencing telecommunications issues that we believe are a result of the Optus outage,” an Austin Health spokesperson told The Guardian.
‘We are currently unable to receive calls from external numbers, but our internal systems are functioning, meaning patient care is unaffected.
Meanwhile, Melbourne’s Northern Health District said all phone lines to hospital campuses have been affected.
“This includes telephone lines to Northern Hospital Epping, Broadmeadows Hospital, Bundoora Centre, Craigieburn Centre, Kilmore District Hospital and Victorian Virtual Emergency Department (VVED),” the health district wrote on Facebook.
‘We apologize for any inconvenience.’
A Melbourne woman said she was ‘worried’ after her mother was admitted to Northern Hospital in Epping overnight and she could not make contact.
“I’m worried,” the woman told ABC Radio Melbourne. ‘I’m a bit worried and emotional, but actually very unsure about what to do next.’
Melbourne’s train network was also closed earlier on Wednesday, leaving many commuters stranded.
It is believed this was a result of the Optus outage. Metro Trains has since confirmed services have resumed, but major delays are expected.
Uber prices have also soared as many drivers have been forced offline due to the Optus blackout.
Optus is experiencing a nationwide outage affecting millions of customers, with doctors and carers unable to use the phone in emergency situations
Other carriers using Optus’ mobile network, such as Amaysim, Vaya, Aussie Broadband, Moose Mobile, Coles Mobile, Spintel, Southern Phone and Dodo Mobile, are also offline.
Melbourne’s Northern Health district said their hospitals’ phone lines had been affected.
“All phone lines to Northern Health campuses are currently affected by an Optus outage,” they said.
‘This includes telephone lines to Northern Hospital Epping, Broadmeadows Hospital, Bundoora Centre, Craigieburn Centre, Kilmore District Hospital and Victorian Virtual Emergency Department (VVED). We apologize for any inconvenience.’
Westmead Private Hospital in Sydney faces the same problem.
‘Due to Optus’ national outage, unfortunately all our telephone lines have been switched off. If you would like to contact the hospital, please email us regarding admissions,” the hospital said.
The telco said it is aware of issues affecting some customers, but has not yet provided an explanation for the system outage.
“Optus is aware of an issue that may be impacting some of our mobile and internet customers,” a spokesperson said.
‘We are currently working to determine the cause and apologize for any inconvenience caused.
‘In case of emergency, customers can still call 000.’
The photo shows where Optus users reported the network outage
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said the company had not yet provided an answer as to what caused the outage.
EFTM technology expert Trevor Long said it was Australia’s “largest telecoms outage”.
“To have mobile broadband and home broadband out at the same time means if you’re an Optus family you’re not going to have any communications this morning,” he told 2GB.
‘There is literally no way to communicate if Optus’s only communication in your home is through your broadband and home mobile phone, which would certainly be a large proportion of those customers.’
Mr Long said there had been little communication from Optus and said a possible hack would be something they are looking into.
The outage could also be due to a broken cable, an IT glitch or an upgrade error, the expert added.
Many Optus users vented their frustration online
Many Aussie Optus subscribers have shared their frustration online, with some only able to make SOS calls.
‘How is it possible that the entire country could not have #optus? I have no phone reception at all,” someone tweeted.
‘What’s going on with #Optus this morning. Woke up and the phone wasn’t working. Also no email or communication from the company. Bad form,” said another.
‘Cool, thanks to Optus, the second time I leave the house today I have no reception or data service on my phone. Let’s hope there are no customer emergencies today,” said another.
Optus has 10.2 million users across the country.