TPG Telecom has received a formal warning for delaying notice to Telstra about an outage that disrupted Triple Zero emergency calls from its network.
An Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) investigation found the TPG network was down for an hour and twenty minutes between 12:40am and 2am on 15 August 2024, leaving most of its 4G mobile customers unable to make voice calls, including emergency service calls. The majority of calls made to Triple Zero during the outage were able to ‘camp-on’ to other networks.
Under emergency call service rules, as soon as a telco carrier becomes aware of a disruption to emergency service calls it must contact Telstra as soon as practicable. The investigation found that while TPG became aware of the issue at 1:22am, it did not report the problem to Telstra until 9:07am.
ACMA member Samantha Yorke said the authority has been cracking down on breaches of emergency call rules.
“It’s crucial that all telcos have their systems and processes in place to ensure any network outages impacting Triple Zero are identified and addressed as soon as possible.
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“They must also take timely action to alert other key stakeholders in the Triple Zero ecosystem where a problem is being experienced,” Ms Yorke said.
The investigation found no evidence that TPG customers suffered any harm as a result of its non-compliance.
TPG advised that the cause of the breach was human error and that all relevant personnel have now been trained on its processes in relation to emergency call management. Refresher training will take place annually.
The safeguarding of emergency call services is one of the ACMA’s compliance priorities for 2024–25 and will continue to be one for 2025–26.
In November 2024 Optus was penalised a record $12 million by the ACMA for its November 2023 network outage, which caused considerable disruption to emergency call services.
In December 2024 the ACMA imposed a $3 million penalty on Telstra after an investigation found 473 breaches of emergency call rules when Telstra’s Triple Zero call centre experienced a disruption for 90 minutes.
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