Communications Minister Anika Wells is set for face-to-face meetings with the heads of the three big Aussie telcos after major triple zero outages in the last month.
Optus suffered a serious outage in their emergency network system across four states, which led to the deaths of three people, whilst Telstra also suffered smaller outages.
On Sunday, Wells asked the CEO of Optus Stephen Rue, Telstra CEO Vicki Brady and TPG Telecom – the owner of Vodafone – CEO Inaki Berroeta for a meeting when parliament convenes tomorrow in Canberra for assurances the crucial emergency system will not let down Australians ahead of the bushfire and cyclone seasons.
Anika Wells insists the telcos need to be held to account. (Sitthixay Ditthavong)
Wells said she was seeking accountability from the providers and to ensure their responsibilities and expectations are clear.
“Literally, I will be laying down the law”, Wells said in an interview with ABC.
“Australians must be able to rely on our triple zero system, and Telcos must do better to give confidence back to Australians after the catastrophic failure on the part of Optus several weeks ago.
“It is a good time for everybody to get together and make sure our expectations are clear and to prepare for natural disaster season ahead.”
Wells has already met with Optus executives last week to discuss the network’s catastrophic triple zero outage.
The Australian Financial Review said letters to each of the company chiefs asserted the telcos needed to do more to prevent significant outages and failures.
Optus CEO Stephen Rue has already met with Wells after his company’s critical outage last month. (Sitthixay Ditthavong)
“On November 1, new rules mean carriers must share real-time network information detailing outages with relevant emergency services organisations and other appropriate entities including the Australian Communications and Media Authority,” Wells wrote.
Wells, who only assumed her position as Communications Minister after the recent Federal election, insisted faster implementation of previous recommendations was not a significant factor in the critical outage, claiming the blame has to lie at the door of Optus.
“This is a catastrophic failure on the part of Optus,” she said.
“They have spoken themselves to some of the things they have identified about what went wrong in their organisation a couple of weeks ago and it is my job to hold them to account to make sure they face serious consequences on the part of Australian taxpayers.”
Wells is also set to announce a new triple zero watchdog in parliament this week, which will increase government oversight of the emergency system around the country.
“On November 1, new rules mean carriers must share real-time network information detailing outages with relevant emergency services organisations and other appropriate entities including the Australian Communications and Media Authority,” Wells wrote.
Shadow Communications Minister Melissa McIntosh has criticised Wells for not making the meeting a public one, claiming it is in the public’s interest given the serious nature of the recent triple zero outages.
“The contents of tomorrow’s meetings should be made available to the public,” she said. “It is up to the Minister to explain to Australians what she is doing to make sure confidence is restored in our triple zero network.”
“At the very least, the Minister should front the Australian public afterwards and explain what actions she is making the telcos take to ensure the community has a fully functioning triple zero system.”
Wells’ office has been contacted for comment.
