Optus restores network after major outage

UPDATE: Optus has restored its services after a major network outage left millions of customers and businesses in the dark for hours across the nation.

Optus announced this afternoon that its services had been restored and that customers should now be able to get back online.

"We know that customers rely on our network, which is why the whole team at Optus has been working hard to fix this," Optus said in a statement.

"Optus sincerely apologises to customers for today’s outage. We again thank customers for their patience."

It comes after the second-largest telecommunications carrier's 10.2 million customers were affected by the network outage since the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Optus users, including businesses, had been unable to make or receive calls, including calls to triple-0 from Optus-connected landlines.

Instead, Optus was urging customers to use a family member or neighbour's mobile phone to call emergency services.

The state’s triple-0 system was reportedly unaffected, given it’s managed by Telstra.

“We encourage any customers who need to contact emergency services to use a mobile line to call 000,” Optus said earlier this morning. 

“Optus can confirm that Triple zero ("000") calls will not work from an Optus landline (fixed line telephone).

“Mobile calls to 000 will work if another carrier is available.”

Optus said it's working to resolve the issue impacting its mobile and nbn services to restore it as quickly as possible.

“Our teams are working urgently to restore services,” Optus said.

“We will provide updates as soon as possible.

“We apologise sincerely to our customers.”

Businesses such as Commonwealth Bank have sent out alerts to customers about the outage's potential impact on its services. 

CommBank said it was aware of a widespread telecommunication outage and that users may encounter difficulties calling the bank and receiving messages including NetCodes. 

Meanwhile, peak body Engineers Australia is urging businesses to assess their systems for "weak points" amid the Optus network outage.

Chief engineer Jane MacMaster said it was crucial to recognise the cascading risk associated with such technology failures.

“When one system fails, it can trigger a domino effect across multiple systems, amplifying negative impacts," she said.