Chaos as Optus outage disconnects half of Australia

View of an Optus shop in Sydney, Australia November 8, 2023. REUTERS/Kirsty Needham

SYDNEY (Reuters) - For one talkback radio caller, the first sign something was wrong with Australia's second-largest internet provider, Optus, came when her cat's wifi-powered food dispenser failed to serve breakfast at 6:10 a.m. and her pet woke her.

For disability pensioner Chris Rogers, who needs painkillers for a knee injury that prevents him from working, the problem became apparent when he drove 30 minutes to the pharmacist and his electronic prescription could not be filled.