Chaos as an Optus outage disconnects half of Australia When a talkback radio caller’s cat woke her up at 6:10 a.m. due to a malfunctioning wifi-powered food dispenser; it was the first indication that something was off with Optus, Australia’s second-largest internet provider.
Disability pensioner Chris Rogers discovered the issue when he traveled thirty minutes to the pharmacy, and his electronic prescription could not be filled. Rogers needs medications for a knee ailment that keeps him from working.
While waiting for the internet to return to the pharmacy, Rogers told Reuters, “It won’t load because of the outage.” “The response is unwavering. I’ve never witnessed such mayhem; it’s wild.”
The firm that delivers 40% of Australia’s internet went into a near-total service blackout for nine hours, which left millions of people unable to pay for items, schedule transportation, seek medical treatment, or even make phone calls. The incident warned about the dangers of living in a culture where practically everything is done online.
The Reserve Bank of Australia reports that in the three years leading up to 2022, Australian cash transactions fell to 16% as pandemic restrictions accelerated a longer-term trend toward contactless payments. According to official data, 25% of medical appointments in the nation are made over the phone or online.
“We are now so very reliant on telehealth and electronic messaging systems because of COVID,” stated Michael Clements, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners’ rural chair.
Optus, a division of Singapore Telecommunications (STEL.SI), explained that it was under investigation for the disruption. By the afternoon, most of its services had been reinstated. Up to that point, getting instructions got harder for anyone out for a walk.
“I need a bank, and if you can’t use your phone to search Google, you’re pretty much at a loss,” stated Angela Ican, a security guard in Sydney’s core business area.
A Sydney office worker told Reuters he could not enter his building because the door needed to be unlocked using a smartphone app connected to the internet.
Small company owners told Reuters that they either offered clients the choice to pay cash or to return later, or they depended on returning customers to pay them back once internet service was restored.
The proprietor of Sydney’s Pirrama Park Kiosk, Roderick Geddes, stated, “We are a A$4,000–A$5,000 ($2,600–$3,200) a day business, and we’ve lost about A$1,000 in coffee sales this morning.” The kiosk was unable to accept electronic payments.
Comment Template