Telstra suffers network outage

AUSTRALIA’S biggest telecommunications provider is now rectifying millions of mobile phone services after a nationwide outage that lasted more than hour today.

The outage affected up to 16.7 million services attached to Telstra’s 3G and 4G networks, and prevented phone calls from coming through to many of its customers’ mobile phones, while other users reported complete loss of phone and data services.

Telstra’s mobile phone services started to come back online after 2pm, though the company warned its service status page could still be showing incorrect information for some people due to overwhelming demand.

On social media, the company said it would be “more than happy” to look into reimbursement for connectivity lost after the outage, though it declined to name the cause of the issue.

Telstra NSW media manager David Taylor issued a statement after the network went down just after midday.

“We are aware of an issue currently affecting mobile voice and data nationally,” he said.

“We are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible and thank customers for their patience.”

Telstra customers could still phone emergency services from smartphones during the outage, with calls using “any available network in the area”.

The Telstra outage, described as a nationwide “interruption,” affected the company’s mobile phone customers using its 4G and 3G networks.

Ironically, inquiries to Telstra representatives about the outage were met with recorded messages that phone calls could “not be completed at this time”.

As Telstra was hit with the outage, Optus also reported intermittent mobile phone connection problems around 12.40pm today, affecting phone calls, text messages and internet connections.

Its service page reported the most faults around Sydney, with some in Brisbane and Melbourne.

Customers have taken to the Telstra’s Facebook page and Twitter account to report the outage.

Telstra’s Twitter social media team took a lighthearted approach to the nightmare scenario, however, dealing with complaints from around the country with good humour.

When one person suggested someone at Telstra headquarters tripped on a cable, the Telstra reply, accompanied by a wink emoticon was: “nah, we just flicked the off switch as a bit of fun.”

When technology journalist Nic Healey suggested someone had dropped a bottle of bad Tequila on a delete key at Telstra headquarters, they retweeted his tweet with a reply that is was probably a bit early in the day for bad Tequila.

Others have also seen the funny side of the outage by posting their reactions.

Telstra has suffered mobile phone network outages in the past but rarely on a national scale.

In October last year, Telstra customers using Apple products suffered slow data speeds due to a breakage in an undersea cable linking Western Europe and the Middle East with Southeast Asia.

The outage occurred after Apple released the iPhone 6S and a new version of its Mac operating system, frustrating customers trying to download large amounts of data.