Sorry, But You’re Apology Could Not Be Connected

Singtel director Gail Kelly has offered a personal apology for last year’s fatal Optus triple-0 outage linked to the deaths of at least two people.

The former Westpac chief was testifying at a Senate inquiry investigating the critical failure of the emergency network, which resulted in at least 600 callers unable to connect to triple-0.

“I sincerely regret the outage that took place in September 2025, with its devastating consequences,” Kelly said.

“I’m deeply sorry … and would like to express my personal condolences to the families of those who’ve been affected.”

Kelly then reaffirmed that Singtel has no plans to sell Optus or divest from its Australian operations.

“We, Singtel, want Optus to thrive,” she said.

“We want Optus to fulfil its obligations to its customers and fulfil its obligations to the Australian people more broadly.”

Kelly’s words are delivered with the sort of rehearsed sincerity typical of a seasoned corporate professional well-versed in the sly craft of public relations. And surely her words ring hollow in the ears of those whose loved ones died because they could not contact emergency services. It would come as little relief to the hundreds of people whose calls went unanswered and were left to fend for themselves.

Optus, and by extension Singtel, have broken a trust with the Australian people that cannot be mended by words or sentiment alone. An apology in a Senate inquiry does nothing to quell an overriding concern that the triple-0 emergency network will fail again when we need it most.

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A probe initiated to investigate how the catastrophic failure occurred identified ten major mistakes that prevented emergency calls from being connected. The outage was caused by a regular upgrade to the Optus firewall resulting in major disruptions to the emergency call network, which went unnoticed due to insufficient monitoring.

As Australians, we are taught 000 alongside our ABCs and 123s. It is embedded in our consciousness that when you’re in trouble, 000 is the first number to call. To have that lifeline called into question for its reliability raises serious concerns for public safety and whether control of a vital national phone service should rest in the hands of a foreign-owned corporation.

Optus was acquired in 2001 by Singapore based telecommunications company Singtel.

The company’s origins can be traced to AUSSAT Pty Ltd, a government owned operation formed in 1981 that provided satellite capability to military and civilian services, including essential communications and delivering television to remote communities.

Operating at a loss, AUSSAT was privatized and its licence sold to Optus Communications, a consortium comprised of Mayne Nickless, UK telecom Cable & Wireless, US telecom BellSouth, AIDC Limited, AMP, and National Mutual.

Optus gained their secondary carrier licence in 1991 and was presented to the Australian public as a competitor to Telstra (formerly Telecom). In the intervening years, the company has undergone significant corporate restructure with customer services being outsourced offshore and a series of leadership changes that have shifted the company’s public perception from competitor to co-conspirator.

Telstra and Optus have come to operate under a duopoly disguised as fair competition, not unlike Coles’ and Woolworths’ manipulation of the grocery market. Though Australian consumers are presented with the illusion of choice for telecom providers, it’s a rigged game.

Optus is now left with the arduous task of rebuilding their fractured trust with the Australian public. Gail Kelly can apologise all she wants, but there can be no resolution until Optus take full responsibility for managing our vital national emergency services.

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