Telstra and Regulator to Face Questions Over Widespread Outage
Thursday, 16 July 2026, 4:47am
The regulator looked at the Telstra outage after a consumer group said some people had trouble calling emergency services.
In short:
Telstra and the regulator are worried about a survey that says up to 10% of customers had trouble making emergency calls.
The regulator asked the consumer group for more information about the survey, and even threatened them with fines or jail time.
What's next?
Telstra and the regulator will answer questions about the outage on Friday.
The regulator is looking into the Telstra outage that stopped people from calling emergency services, after a consumer group said some people had trouble making these calls.
A survey found that one in ten people had trouble calling emergency services from their mobile phones in the past year.
The regulator asked the consumer group for more information about the survey.
The consumer group gave some information, but the regulator wanted more and threatened them with fines or jail time.
The head of the consumer group said she was surprised by the regulator's demands.
She said the group only reported what consumers told them about their experiences.
The regulator and Telstra will face questions about the outage and the survey.
Telstra's CEO and other executives will be asked about the outage that caused problems for businesses and transport systems.
The regulator is also looking into the outage and will be asked questions.
The regulator said it would look into whether Telstra followed the rules for emergency calls.
A survey raised questions about people's trust in the emergency call system.
The survey found that some people had trouble calling emergency services from their mobile phones.
Another survey found similar results.
The head of the consumer group said they only reported what consumers told them.
The person who did the survey said it was unusual for the regulator to ask for so much information.
He said the regulator was very sensitive about the survey's findings.
The survey was discussed in a Senate committee and reported on by the media.
More on the Telstra outage
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Analysis by Clare Armstrong
Topic: Explainer
The regulator defended its response to the survey's findings.
The regulator said it took the findings seriously and wanted more information.
The regulator asked for the survey's methodology and other information.
The consumer group said it gave the regulator all the information it asked for.
How many emergency calls are not connected?
The outage could have cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
Telstra said the number of calls that did not connect was very small.
Telstra said it delivered over 14 million calls to the emergency call service in the past year.
Telstra asks callers which service they need and sends the call to the right service.
Some calls were terminated unexpectedly and did not connect to the emergency service.
Telstra asked for the record to be corrected.
Telstra is looking at claims for compensation, but it is a difficult process.
The head of the consumer group said it was worrying that the regulator and Telstra attacked the survey instead of fixing the problem.
The consumer group said the survey showed a serious public safety issue.
The regulator said it took the findings seriously and wanted more information.
The regulator said it could have explained its actions better.
Thursday, 16 July 2026, 4:47am
Thursday, 16 July 2026, 7:07am
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