SYDNEY: Australian telco Optus said on Wednesday (Nov 26) it had suffered an emergency call outage near Melbourne impacting around 14,000 users, two months after a broader disruption that probably caused four deaths when customers failed to get timely aid.
Optus, owned by Singapore Telecommunications, said an "aerial fibre break" could be the cause of the outage, which was being investigated.
"Customers will only be able to call emergency services if they are within coverage of another mobile network or are able to call via WiFi," the company said on its website.
Australian media outlet ABC News, quoting a radio interview that Optus spokesperson Jane McNamara gave to ABC Radio Melbourne at about 11am local time, said the disruption was due to vandalism.
“We know copper has been removed from the pit and we have contacted Victoria police,” she said, adding that Optus has photo evidence of its wires being cut.
The issue is expected to be rectified by about 1pm local time, she said. - Reuters/The Straits TImes/ANN
