Telstra’s July 8 national outage did more than just irritate customers, it knocked out train networks, online payments and blocked over 600 calls to triple-0.
Pressure has now landed on the company to show how it plans to prevent anything similar from happening again. A new workaround using Starlink satellite messaging is being positioned as one part of the safety net.
The outage was examined at a Senate inquiry on Friday, where Telstra executives faced questions over how such a large failure occurred.
The company acknowledged that its 3G shutdown, rolled out before the meltdown, had left some areas with new mobile dead zones. Customers in those locations noticed their service had changed, and not for the better.
That backdrop is driving Telstra to seek alternative paths to keep people connected in emergencies.
Telstra has now partnered with Starlink to let mobile phones send messages via satellite rather than relying solely on ground-based mobile towers.
Australians still cannot text triple-0 directly through this system, which leaves a critical gap.
The technology lets someone in a coverage hole send a satellite text to a friend or family member who does have normal mobile reception.
That contact can then make the actual triple-0 call, turning personal networks into an improvised relay for emergency help.
The new setup looks like a stopgap rather than a complete fix for emergency connectivity.
