Dozens of welfare checks under way after phone lines go dead
Communications Minister Anika Wells has said about 36 welfare checks are under way as Telstra checks in on customers whose phone calls dropped out during the outage.
Wells said she spoke to Telstra’s acting chief executive just after 12pm, and was given an update based on data from 10.25am.
“There are about three dozen welfare checks that are still ongoing,” she said.
“As you’ll remember from [the Optus outage in] September, there’s a system that happens here where Telstra tries to call these numbers that are dropped calls. If they’re unable to get onto them, they pass those along to the territory and state emergency providers.
“So that’s what’s happened now. Those states and territories are running down those welfare checks. As you’ll recall from September, sometimes that takes a while to process through, but Telstra will provide you with further updates as they get them.”
More than 20 calls unable to connect to Triple Zero during outage
Triple Zero Victoria has confirmed more than 20 phone calls were unable to connect during the Telstra outage this morning, but say they are continuing to receive emergency calls now.
A spokesperson confirmed 24 calls “experienced difficulty connecting to the Telstra national Triple Zero emergency service”.
“Victorian Police Communications Liaison Officers located in our communications centres are currently conducting welfare checks with these twenty-four calls as a matter of urgency,” the spokesperson said.
“As Telstra has also communicated, we ask the community to not test call 000.”
They said there had been no “adverse events” identified as a result of the outage.
Telcos the nation’s least-trusted industry, says Wells
Communications Minister Anika Wells said Telstra would need to explain how and why its network crashed today, calling telcos the least-trusted industry in Australia.
“The Triple Zero custodian has advised that some callers were unable to connect to the ECP [emergency call person], and that these are being now investigated by Telstra, and welfare checks are in progress, as is required by the law,” Wells told reporters in Canberra.
“The Triple Zero custodian is in regular communication with Telstra to receive updates on the progress and outcomes of these checks.”
Wells, who returned from leave following the outage, said telcos were “the least-trusted industry in our country as we stand today”. She said the Triple Zero custodian was keeping a detailed account of who knew what and when.
“One of the improvements we wanted out of the Optus outage in September was to get a much better handle on that,” she said.
Afternoon peak to be disrupted too
V/Line has confirmed dozens of services to and from regional Victoria will not run this afternoon, as an exact time for rectifying the Telstra-related radio issue that sidelined its trains remains elusive.
Below are the services that have been altered but not cancelled:
- The 2.21pm Waurn Ponds-Southern Cross service has been reinstated and will run today.
- The 2.10pm Southern Cross-Waurn Ponds service has been reinstated and will run today.
- The 1.01pm Southern Cross-Bairnsdale service will originate from Traralgon at 3.35pm today.
- The 1.10pm Southern Cross-Warrnambool service will originate from Camperdown at 3.38pm today.
Watch: Communications minister speaks
Acting Transport Minister Kristy McBain said national freight networks were halted by the Telstra network outage.
“Emergency communications on our national freight network are down, so the Australian Rail Track Corporation has paused freight train operations,” McBain told reporters in Canberra.
“I’ve asked the National Emergency Management Agency to convene another National Coordination Mechanism meeting this afternoon. The NCM will include relevant Australian government agencies, state and territory agencies, and Telstra, so there is a shared situational awareness and a coordinated response.”
Telstra users urged to restart phones
In its latest update, Telstra says people who continue to experience problems with their phone should restart it.
Telstra’s share price dropped 2.9 per cent to $4.92 per share just before 1pm.
Meanwhile, the union representing telecommunications workers has linked Wednesday’s outage to Telstra’s cuts to its workforce.
The Communication Workers Union national secretary, Shane Murphy, called the outage “utterly shameful” and said it was a direct result of the company running down its staff.
‘Significant disruption’: Some Telstra customers couldn’t call Triple Zero
The federal government has confirmed some callers were unable to connect to Triple Zero during the nationwide Telstra outage, prompting urgent welfare checks and demands for answers from the telecommunications company.
Communications Minister Anika Wells and Acting Communications Minister Kristy McBain said the core Triple Zero system remained operational, but some calls failed to reach emergency call centres.
In a statement, the ministers said Telstra was required to investigate the incidents and complete welfare checks on affected callers.
They described the outage as widespread, causing “significant disruption” across Australia. The intermittent issues continue despite the restoration of about 90 per cent of affected services.
Deakin university students forced to take the stairs
The outage has shut down elevators at Deakin University campuses because their emergency intercom systems rely on Telstra’s network.
In an email to all students a while ago, the university said: “As these intercoms are a critical safety feature, all lifts have been taken out of operation until service is restored. Further updates will be provided as more information becomes available.”
The university says students who require accessibility assistance will receive a staff escort.
About 60,000 students attend Deakin’s four campuses across Melbourne, Geelong and Warrnambool, as well as online.
What caused the V/Line outage, causing 100 trains to grind to a halt
About 100 trains were out on the network when V/Line’s communications systems went down this morning, leaving it operating blind.
“That train radio system actually locates the train and talks back to our control room. If we don’t see where that train is, we stop the train immediately because that’s a safety measure that we put in place as part of our safety procedures,” V/Line CEO Will Tieppo said.
Trains continued to their next station when the system went out. Two or three trains were too far away and had to stop and wait on a section of track before eventually moving on to their nearest station.
Tieppo said V/Line had restored visibility of all 178 of its trains about 11.30am, but the radio system remained too unstable to resume services.
National rail network also affected
The nationwide Telstra outage has forced the Australian Rail Track Corporation to suspend rail services across its 9500-kilometre network, disrupting major freight and passenger routes.
The shutdown affects interstate services including The Ghan, Indian Pacific and NSW TrainLink’s XPT network linking Sydney with Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane.
ARTC said the outage had disrupted the communications relied on by field teams, leaving them unable to make or receive emergency calls.
“As a safety precaution, ARTC has implemented established emergency protocols and safely brought rail services on the network to a stand while the telecommunications outage is resolved,” a spokesperson said.
The corporation said there was no confirmed timeframe for the restoration of communications, warning it would take time for services to resume safely once the network outage was resolved.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
