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Optus internet outage affects 95,000 and impacts Triple Zero calls in Brisbane
Updated ,first published
A fresh Optus outage cut NBN internet connections to 95,000 customers across Brisbane and parts of Queensland, with some customers unable to make Triple Zero calls from their landline.
Optus said a “network server failure” at its Brisbane exchange in the southern suburb of Rochedale caused the widespread issue.
The telco conceded customers were unable to make Triple Zero calls from their home phone, if their landline was connected through the NBN. However, mobile phones were not affected.
“Our technicians remain on site and are working as quickly as possible to fully restore connectivity for all Optus NBN customers,” Optus said in a statement.
“We sincerely apologise for the disruption and thank customers for their patience.”
Some customers were unable to connect to the internet from as early as 4am on Wednesday.
“Voice over internet phone calls, via a customer’s NBN broadband connection, may have been affected if the customer has an older modem without 4G or 5G back-up,” the telco said.
An Optus spokeswoman said services were being restored as of 4pm, Queensland time.
Affected customers have been advised to turn their internet modem off, unplug it from the wall and then turn it back on, if their NBN does not automatically reconnect.
A spokeswoman for Health Minister Tim Nicholls said the Queensland government was closely monitoring the situation and was working with the Queensland Ambulance Service.
The latest outage comes as Optus faces an ongoing Senate inquiry into a catastrophic September 18 outage that prevented 605 customers from reaching Triple Zero for more than 14 hours in South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
Three deaths have been linked to the major September outage.
Eleven days later, almost 5000 Optus customers in the Illawarra region of NSW could not contact emergency services for more than nine hours.
Last week, more than 14,000 Optus customers in Melbourne’s south-east were unable to make calls or use mobile data, with calls to emergency services also impacted.
That outage was caused by vandals who damaged an aerial fibre line while trying to steal copper, cutting services to Optus customers in the Frankston and Mornington Peninsula areas.
The Senate inquiry’s next hearing is set for December 9.
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Marissa Calligeros is a journalist at Brisbane Times. She was previously an editor at The Age.Connect via X or email.