Telstra to improve Triple Zero delivery after May outage

Telstra has committed to improve the delivery of the Triple Zero emergency call service for Australians following an ACMA investigation into an outage that left some 1433 calls to the emergency hotline unanswered.

The investigation found that a fire in an interstate cable pit in May meant Telstra failed to ensure that the calls were carried to the emergency services operator. The outage was compounded by network software failures.

The 1433 dropped calls represents a significant fraction of the average of the roughly 23,500 calls per day made to emergency call service numbers during the 2016–17 financial year, according to ACMA statistics.

The company has made a court-enforceable undertaking to improve the redundancy and diversity of its network and develop new communication protocols.

As a result of the incident, ACMA has also launched a review into the rules governing the emergency call service to ensure that they make best use of today’s technologies and impose clear and consistent obligations. The regulator has launched a public consultation as part of the review.

The legislation imposes obligations on telecoms service providers, carriage service providers and emergency call service providers — Telstra in the case of the Triple Zero service — to ensure that the Triple Zero call service operates as unimpeded as possible.

“Triple Zero is the lifeline for Australians in life-threatening or emergency situations. Community confidence in the emergency call service must be maintained,” ACMA Chair Nerida O’Loughlin said.

“Given the critical nature of the Triple Zero service, the ACMA takes matters about access to the service very seriously. The actions Telstra has already taken, and is undertaking, will help strengthen the emergency call service and minimise the risk of another disruption to this critical service, [and] the review will help ensure that the rules for the emergency call service remain current and effective.”

Advocacy body the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) said the review serves as a chance to modernise the Triple Zero service to reflect the channels people are using to communicate today.

The body’s CEO, Teresa Corbin, welcomed the news that the investigation into the outage has resulted in a tightening of protections for consumers, but she was critical of Telstra for allowing the outage in the first place.

“1433 calls went unanswered during Telstra’s outage in May. It is not acceptable that Australians in their time of need were unable to reach emergency assistance,” Corbin said.

“Being the contracted government supplier for the nation’s emergency lines means that the community holds Telstra to an understandably high standard.”

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Photographee.eu

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