Singtel-owned Optus says massive Australia outage was after software upgrade

FILE PHOTO: View of an Optus shop in Sydney, Australia November 8, 2023. REUTERS/Kirsty Needham/File Photo

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian telecoms provider Optus said on Monday that a massive outage which effectively cut off 40% of the country's population and triggered a political firestorm was caused by "changes to routing information" after a "routine software upgrade".

More than 10 million Australians were hit by the 12-hour network blackout at the Singapore Telecommunications-owned telco on Nov. 8, triggering fury and frustration among customers and raising wider concerns about the telecommunications infrastructure.