At approximately 4:30am (AEST) on Wednesday 8 July, we identified an issue affecting some mobile calls and data services. Services have now been restored, and customers can feel confident calling Triple Zero.
We want to apologise again for the disruption these issues had on our customers and the broader community. We know how much you rely on our network - for work, for travel and to stay safe - and we take that responsibility very seriously.
If the outage has affected you, you'll find how to reach us further down this post.
Early last Wednesday, we identified an issue with a network device that keeps time synchronised across parts of our mobile network. When the network lost synchronisation it caused intermittent impacts to some voice and data services.
Our teams worked immediately to identify the fault, isolate the device, and restore the affected network nodes to progressively return services to normal.
Most calls and data were working correctly by mid-morning, and by 4:00pm the issue in our network had mostly resolved.
It took a little longer for some business customers to fully restore their services and we worked with them closely until they were back online.
As we resolved the original outage, we identified a subsequent issue affecting some calls, including to Triple Zero. In these cases, some people calling Triple Zero received an error message, and their phone would then try to connect to an alternative mobile network. This was a consequence of the same software defect which caused the initial outage. While the initial outage had been addressed, this issue needed to be fixed in a different way.
As part of our standard back-up process, we conducted a welfare check whenever a call to Triple Zero was unsuccessful or dropped out after connecting. This process worked as intended.
By 12:30pm on 9 July, we had implemented a solution that addressed the issue affecting some calls to Triple Zero.
We completed 604 welfare checks in total:
Since this solution was put in place, no further welfare checks have been required for this issue.
We identified a software defect and were able to isolate it, to address the original outage.
The outage was not the result of a cyber incident.
We've seen reports of fraudsters calling customers, claiming to be from Telstra and trying to take advantage of the outage.
Please be extra vigilant. If you get a call from someone claiming to be from Telstra asking for your details in light of the outage, hang up and call us directly.
Our teams are working as quickly as possible to resolve any remaining issues.
Thank you for your patience and understanding as we've worked to put things right. We don't take that for granted.
If you need to contact us because you were impacted by these issues, you can do so via our online complaints form.
In many cases, we may be able to resolve your concerns through our initial review.
If you are not satisfied with the outcome, or would like to discuss your complaint further, a member of our team will contact you to discuss your circumstances and any available resolution options.
If you are a small business contacting us because you were impacted about these issues, you can also do so via our online complaints form or by calling us directly on 1800 242 728. We'll review your complaint and attempt to resolve it as quickly as possible.
If your business experienced a direct financial loss because of these issues, you can request a compensation assessment by lodging a complaint through the same online complaints form.
The updates we shared as we worked through these issues remain below, unchanged.
1:30pm – Triple Zero issue identified and fix in place
As we shared last night, we identified a subsequent issue affecting some calls, including to Triple Zero. The nature of this issue only became apparent as we resolved the original outage.
In these cases, some people calling Triple Zero received an error message, and their phone would then try to connect to an alternative mobile network.
This was a consequence of the same software defect behind yesterday's outage. While the original issue was addressed, this one remained ongoing and needed to be fixed in a different way.
Overnight, our team made good progress, significantly reducing failed calls to Triple Zero. We've now implemented a solution that has addressed the impact of this issue. Mobile networks are complex, and we're continuing to work through further changes to make sure we have the most robust solution in place.
Customers can feel confident calling Triple Zero.
10:00am – New guidance for customers trying to call Triple Zero
If you experience any issues calling Triple Zero, please immediately retry your call. We have seen good success of calls connecting on retry. We'll keep you updated here as soon as there's more to share.
6:30am – Restoration work continues on secondary issue
Overnight, our team have made good progress reducing the occurrence of the subsequent Triple Zero calling error by approximately 90%, and will continue the work to eliminate this issue entirely.
Our welfare checks process remains in place, and we continue to advise customers who experience the issue to wait for the call to be connected via an alternative network or recall using a different phone.
If you experience any issues calling Triple Zero, we recommend you:
9:00pm – Some devices may still be experiencing issues
While we've restored the issue that caused today's outage, we've identified a secondary issue impacting some calls including Triple Zero.
In these cases, when you call Triple Zero you will receive an error message and your phone will try to connect to an alternative mobile network.
As part of our back up process, we will complete a welfare check where we detect a failed Triple Zero call.
We're working urgently to resolve this issue.
4:00pm – Issue mostly resolved
The issue in our network has now mostly resolved. In our last update, just under 90% of calls and data services were back up and running - since then we've restored more remaining services.
It may take some time for all devices to reconnect correctly. If you're still having issues, please restart your phone or device. We're also working closely with our enterprise customers to resolve things on their end.
1:00pm – We continue to make good progress restoring services.
If you are still experiencing issues, we recommend restarting your phone rather than just switching on airplane mode.
9:30am – Most calls and data working correctly
We've been able to restore some of the affected nodes, but it's taking time to flow through our network. Most calls and data are working correctly now. Our teams are working as quickly as possible to restore the rest.
4:30am – Issue identified affecting some mobile calls and data
At approximately 4.30am (AEDT) we identified an issue affecting a number of nodes that help keep time across our mobile network. When these nodes are not operating as expected, other parts of the network can be affected, resulting in intermittent issues with some mobile calls and data services. We began investigating immediately and started work to restore services.
