A recent survey reveals that 47% of respondents feel Optus poorly managed the prolonged triple-zero emergency service outage. The disruption lasted several hours, sparking criticism of the telecom giant’s response.

The poll, conducted by Resolve Strategic, indicates that 30% of those surveyed held neutral opinions about Optus’s handling of the incident. Meanwhile, 23% believed the company responded well or very well to the crisis.

The survey gathered insights from 1,800 participants, shedding light on public sentiment regarding Optus’s crisis management.

Optus, based in Singapore, is Australia’s second-largest telecommunications provider. The outage on September 18 lasted 13 hours and affected more than 600 emergency calls, which could not connect due to a flawed network upgrade.

Tragically, the outage has since been associated with three fatalities, further intensifying scrutiny of Optus’s response and operational protocols during emergencies.

Three deaths have been since been linked to the outage.

Optus had already faced heavy criticism for its handling of and response to the outage, particularly its communication about it.

Optus chief executive Stephen Rue confirmed the outage was caused by human error.

Optus has commissioned an internal review, and the Australian Communications and Media Authority is investigating.

Communications Minister Anika Wells has promised to hold the telco to account. 

Wells has hinted that there may be a wider review into the telco industry and emergency service network.

“Literally, I will be laying down the law”, Wells said in an interview with ABC.

“Australians must be able to rely on our triple zero system, and Telcos must do better to give confidence back to Australians after the catastrophic failure on the part of Optus several weeks ago.”