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The federal government has said it will investigate mobile network company TPG Telecom following the death of a person after a customer’s phone failed to make a triple-zero call.
The person died on 13 November, with a statement from TPG Telecom indicating the call failure was due to outdated software on the phone.
Communications Minister Anika Wells said it was a “tragic situation that will be investigated”.
“My thoughts are with the family and loved ones of the person who has died,” she said in a statement.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) will conduct a thorough evaluation of TPG’s adherence to the Emergency Call Service Determination.
The incident comes just two months after a 10-hour Optus triple-zero outage was linked to four deaths, sparking a parliamentary inquiry into the company.
TPG Telecom said it was informed of the incident by NSW Ambulance on Monday.
The telco said the failure was not due to a network outage, but part of a recently discovered Lebara software issue affecting older devices.
“Early investigations indicate that the failed calls were due to the customer’s Samsung device operating on software that was not compatible with making Triple Zero calls on the network,” the company said in a statement.
“Samsung recently identified that certain older devices required a software update to enable Triple Zero functionality on TPG Telecom’s mobile network.”
Customers are advised to “immediately update any affected devices” to ensure compliance.
“Handsets not updated are blocked after a period of 2,835 days from the first contact to the customer, as required under new regulations,” the telco said.
“The most recent communications to customers with impacted devices was sent on 7 November. These updates are critical to ensure compatibility with emergency services and to protect customer safety.”
TPG Telecom’s managing director and CEO, Iñaki Berroeta, also urged all customers with outdated software to replace or update their devices.
“Customer safety remains our highest priority,” Berroeta said in a statement.
“This is a tragic incident, and our condolences and thoughts are with the individual’s family and loved ones.
“We strongly encourage all users with outdated software to promptly upgrade or replace their devices to guarantee access to Triple Zero during emergencies,” the statement emphasized.
Previous testing by Telstra found more than 70 older model Samsung handsets weren’t connecting correctly to the emergency number.
Telstra advised that 11 models would need to be completely replaced, while the rest required immediate software updates to resolve the issue.
It’s believed up to 10,000 devices might be affected.
