TPG Telecom has been issued a formal warning by the Australian Communications and Media Authority after failing to promptly alert Telstra, the operator of the Triple Zero emergency call service, to a network outage that affected emergency calls.
An ACMA investigation found TPG’s network was down for an hour and twenty minutes between 12:40am and 2am on 15 August 2024, leaving most 4G mobile customers unable to make voice calls, including to emergency services. The majority of calls to Triple Zero during the outage were able to ‘camp-on’ to other networks.
Under emergency call service rules, carriers must contact Telstra as soon as practicable once they become aware of any disruption to emergency calls. The regulator found TPG became aware of the issue at 1:22am but did not notify 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.
“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 the non-compliance. TPG advised the breach was caused by human error and said all relevant staff have now been trained on emergency call management processes, with annual refresher training to follow.
Safeguarding emergency call services is one of the ACMA’s compliance priorities for 2024–25 and will remain so in 2025–26. The warning to TPG follows a record $12 million penalty against Optus in November 2024 over its November 2023 outage, and a $3 million penalty imposed on Telstra in December 2024 after 473 breaches were identified when Telstra’s Triple Zero call centre experienced a 90-minute disruption.
