It hasn’t been a good couple of weeks for Optus. At time of writing, chief executive Kelly Bayer (ETR:BAYGN) Rosmarin is facing a Senate inquiry called by the Greens into last week’s widespread network outage.
Incident sparked parliamentary hearings
The outage, which occurred last Wednesday, impacted the telecommunications giant's entire telephone and internet network, even hampering some calls to emergency numbers.
The incident sparked immediate concern – and two inquiries – about the resilience of Australia's critical infrastructure.
Singtel, Optus' parent company, attributed it to the Singtel Internet Exchange (STiX). But other sources suggest that failsafe routers incorrectly activating in Optus' networks after a software upgrade were the root cause.
The incident marks the second major crisis for Optus in the past 12 months, following a massive cybersecurity breach that led to legal actions against the company.
And the niggles continue – the ABC carries a report today about a consumer who alleges that a new customer was signed up to her active number.
Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young is today scrutinising Bayer Rosmarin about the extent of the outage's impact on emergency services and whether it resulted from Optus prioritising profits over the public interest.
Criticism has been directed at Bayer Rosmarin and Optus for their delayed response to the outage, which occurred on November 8.
Communication Minister Michelle Rowland called it a source of "great anxiety" for individuals and businesses.
Bayer Rosmarin could pay price
Bayer Rosmarin has reportedly been considering stepping down from her position in the wake of two major crises within the past year.
Sources close to Bayer Rosmarin have indicated that she may depart as early as next week, a move intended to allow Optus the opportunity to rebuild its reputation and stem the loss of customers.
The drift has already begun, with Telstra CEO Vicki Brady reporting that the rival telco has gained some Optus customers since the recent outage, and other telecom companies like TPG Telecom noting increased sales.