Power up: What to do in a telco outage

If you were one of the 10 million people caught up in the Optus outage in late 2023, you already know the issues a network failure can cause.

For some, the telco’s breakdown was frustrating and costly, for others a life-threatening situation, with thousands of callers unable to get through to emergency services.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), the telecommunications regulator, has strengthened the rules applying to outages in the wake of the unprecedented failure. Designed to protect consumers and hold telcos accountable, they require providers to ensure, among other things, that:

• • Affected customers are notified as quickly as possible
  • An estimated timeframe of when the service will be restored is provided
  • Customers receive assistance if services don’t resume after the network is restored

 

 

With an increasing number of Australians unhappy with the way telcos respond to their complaints, it is important to understand how you might be affected in an outage and what your rights are.

Staying in touch

Being without network coverage is undoubtedly inconvenient for most of us in an era when we all rely so much on our mobile phones and internet. It can also be costly and potentially dangerous, as the Optus failure showed.

It’s a good idea to have a backup, such as a spare SIM card or mobile hotspot, particularly if you live in an area that is prone to outages. Find out where your nearest public telephone is and ask your friends and neighbours what networks they use. You can be each other’s backup plan in the event either of your services goes down.

If you have a landline service that becomes unavailable, try your mobile. Or ask your nominated friend or neighbour if you can use their phone to let loved ones know they will have to contact you another way or if you need to make an important business or medical call.

 

 

If your mobile network goes down and you still have Wi-Fi connection, you may be able to make calls using that network. You should be able to make emergency calls. In the aftermath of the Optus fiasco, the ACMA has also strengthened rules compelling telcos to ensure customer calls to triple zero can be carried by other providers in an outage.

If there is a planned outage, you should receive a notification from your provider. Take a screenshot so that you have a record of the time and estimated duration. Keep an eye on your telco app and website for updates.

Seeking compensation

If an outage is minor and our lives or businesses largely unaffected, most of us will likely forget the annoyance as soon as it is over.

But if the service is down for hours, as was the case with Optus, or you experience frequent outages that affect your work, life or health, you may be entitled to compensation.

Check what your contract states before contacting your telco to ask about the process for obtaining a refund or rebate for the time your service was affected.

 

 

You also have separate rights under Australian Consumer Law, that may entitle you to seek redress if the outages are frequent and/or major. This could be in the form of a refund or rebate, cancelling your contract without penalty, or seeking compensation for any losses incurred during the network failure.

It is important to keep a record of the times and duration of the outage/s, as well as any evidence that shows the effect, such as a significant drop in sales in an online business or being unable to receive important calls. This can help build your case for compensation.

Getting the right response

It can be frustrating to make telco complaints at the best of times, let alone when you are stressed and wanting redress for the hours you have been without internet or mobile coverage.

Once your service has been restored, contact your provider, explain how the outage has affected you and ask how to file a complaint. If you don’t get a satisfactory response, you can escalate to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO).

Or you can take all that pressure off and make a complaint with us. We not only manage your complaint but track similar ones coming into our system so we can quickly identify patterns. If there is an ongoing network issue in your area, we can also liaise with the telco on your behalf.