Telstra has paid a penalty and committed to an independent review after it mistakenly disconnected an emergency call support service used by people with speech and hearing impairments.
An Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) investigation found the telco giant inadvertently made its 106 emergency call service number unavailable for 12 hours and 46 minutes between July 5 and July 6 last year.
ACMA consumer lead Samantha Yorke said fortunately no one attempted to use the 106 number during the outage but admitted disruptions to the emergency call service could have had devastating consequences.
“This mistake could have contributed to very serious harm if someone who relies on this service had needed emergency assistance but was unable to get through,” Yorke said.
Under emergency call service rules, carriers must maintain proper and effective functioning of their networks and facilities that are used to carry emergency calls.
As a result of the outage, Telstra paid a penalty of $18,780 and will engage an independent reviewer to oversee the range of operational arrangements that support the delivery of the 106 call service.
Telstra will implement any recommendations from the review as well as develop and provide staff training and report regularly to ACMA on its progress.
“While no emergency calls failed during the disruption on July 6, 2024, we understand the critical importance of maintaining reliable emergency call services and the potential consequences of any disruption,” a Telstra spokesperson said in a statement.
“We fully accept the findings of the ACMA and have committed to an independent review of our change management processes and operational arrangements to ensure such a mistake doesn’t happen again.”
ACMA found in March last year, Telstra made 473 breaches of emergency call rules relating to the 90-minute incident.
