In Australia, a total outage at the second largest mobile phone operator, Optus, paralyzed telephone and internet connections for more than ten million people. Since the early hours of the morning (local time), customers across the country have been unable to make calls or go online, the Australian press reported today.
According to a report from broadcaster 9News, this is the biggest telecommunications interruption in the country’s history. In a statement released by the company at midday, it was expected that it would take hours before the network was restored.
Cyber attack ruled out by authorities
“The good news is that we found a way to restore the entire network,” said Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, CEO of Optus. However, this can only happen gradually and will take some time.
It was not clear what caused the failure. Authorities have ruled out a cyber attack. “This is a very unusual incident and as soon as we understand exactly what happened we will provide details,” Rosmarin emphasized. Among other things, telephone connections to hospitals and emergency services were interrupted.