The Australian telecommunications company Optus, owned by Singapore Telecommunications, has paid a fine of A$1.5 million ($977,250) following a significant breach of public safety regulations related to emergency services. An investigation conducted by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) revealed that approximately 200,000 Optus mobile customers faced potential risks due to the company’s failure to upload crucial customer information into a vital database. This lapse occurred from January 2021 to September 2023 and impacted critical services, including Emergency Alert, which issues warnings for disasters like floods and bushfires, as well as the country’s primary emergency number, Triple Zero.
Optus has accepted ACMA’s findings and committed to an “Enforceable Undertaking,” which includes an independent review of the telco’s processes and systems to ensure full compliance with its IPND obligations going forward. The company also plans to increase investment in cybersecurity and has commenced an ongoing review of its IT infrastructure, focusing on network resilience.
ACMA member Samantha Yorke said in a statement that the failure to meet the requirements for the Integrated Public Number Database is a serious breach of the law and has potentially put lives at risk. “While we are not aware that anyone was directly harmed as a result of this non-compliance, it is alarming that such an extensive period of time went uncorrected and that Optus chose to outsource its obligations through a supplier,” she added.
ACMA’s probe of the telco was launched after a compliance audit found that Optus had outsourced its IPND obligations to a third-party supplier called Prvidr Pty Ltd. Yorke warned that such outsourcing was not permitted and that Optus should have known its obligations.
This is the latest in a string of challenges faced by SingTel’s Australian arm, which has struggled to build up its mobile network, data center business, and regional connectivity offerings. The company has also been plagued by service outages that have affected some hospitals, Coles and Woolworths stores, and small businesses, making them unable to process EFTPOS payments or use two-factor authentication systems. In November, the company experienced a significant outage affecting nearly half of Australia’s population, forcing CEO Bill Bayer Rosmarin to resign shortly after.
The outages are an ominous sign for SingTel’s growing ambition in the region, which it has sought to cement as its core business in the face of rising competition from rivals such as Verizon (VZ.N). The parent company has a % market share of 82% in Australia, 47% in the country’s fixed-line mobile market, and 43% in the broadband space. It also wants to expand its presence in the booming artificial intelligence sector by investing in local start-ups. The company’s data centers will play a key role in future growth, providing the scale and agility to support new emerging technologies. The company expects to double the capacity of its regional data centers this year and have room for expansion in the next five years.