Last updated on December 25, 2025
SYDNEY, 29 September 2025 – Australian telecom provider Optus, owned by Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel), reported a new emergency call outage on Sunday, just 10 days after a major network disruption was linked to at least four deaths.
The latest outage was caused by a faulty mobile tower in Dapto, around 100 km south of Sydney, impacting around 4,500 people and disrupting emergency services for several hours. Optus said the issue has since been restored.
The company confirmed that “all callers who attempted to contact emergency services are OK.”
The incident comes after a 13-hour outage on September 18 triggered by a firewall upgrade, which cut emergency call access in two states and the Northern Territory, leaving some 600 customers in remote areas unable to seek help. That disruption has been tied to four fatalities.
Growing public anger has pushed the Australian government to demand answers. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has labelled the disruptions “completely unacceptable.”
Singtel Group CEO Yuen Kuan Moon is scheduled to meet Communications Minister Anika Wells this week, alongside Optus Chairman John Arthur and CEO Stephen Rue.
“Singtel takes this matter seriously and will extend full co-operation to the Australian government and authorities to address the Optus issue,” a company spokesperson said.
Rue has acknowledged that human error may have contributed to the earlier outage and admitted internal procedures were not followed. An independent review is underway and expected to be completed by year-end.
