Telstra’s mobile network has gone down across large parts of Australia this morning, leaving heaps of customers unable to make calls or use data and throwing regional trains and some EFTPOS terminals into chaos.
The provider, which powers about 25 million mobile services nationwide, has confirmed the issue and says its tech teams are working to get services back up as soon as possible.
“We’re investigating an issue affecting some mobile calls and data connections as a matter of priority,” a spokesperson said.
“If you’re having trouble connecting, try again as it may work on a retry. Fixed internet services like NBN are not affected. We’re on it and will share an update as soon as it’s fixed. Thanks for sticking with us.”
Reports started flowing in before dawn, with outage‑tracking site Downdetector clocking more than 7,500 complaints from around 4am as people woke up to phones stuck in SOS mode and only showing emergency or satellite options.
Telstra sub‑brands Belong and Boost, Aldi Mobile and other providers that run on the same network are caught up in it too, and Telstra has told customers to try restarting their devices as a possible short‑term workaround while crews sort out the fault.
On the transport front, the outage has forced regional rail operators to hit pause.
Victoria’s V/Line says a radio network fault linked to the Telstra issue means trains are “currently unable to operate” and there’s “no estimated time for rectification at this stage”, with only very limited replacement coaches on offer and a request for passengers to defer travel where they can.
Transport for NSW has reported services are out between Newcastle and Maitland, and between Campbelltown and Moss Vale/Goulburn, with buses being pulled in to cover the gaps.
Emergency services are stressing that Triple Zero itself is still running, but there’s a catch for some Telstra users.
In a statement, NSW Police said: “Triple Zero systems are not affected, but you may not be able to reach Triple Zero if you are calling from a Telstra device. If you try to call Triple Zero and can’t get through, we recommend using another device, a landline or Wi‑Fi calling.”
WA Police said the outage is “impacting their ability to make phone calls, including calls to Triple Zero from Telstra services”, and urged people to check in on vulnerable family members, friends, neighbours or co‑workers while the disruption continues.
Emergency services have confirmed they’re still receiving and responding to Triple Zero calls, with phones required to fall back to other networks where coverage allows.
Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) is still receiving and responding to triple zero calls during the Telstra outage.
“FRNSW crews are communicating through our Connected Firefighter program’s ‘vehicle as a node’ satellite technology, where necessary”, a spokesperson said.
“We are liaising with Telstra and monitoring the situation.”
Prime minister Anthony Albanese has described the outage as “deeply concerning” and “disruptive”, but said Telstra has told the government there is currently no evidence the incident is malicious.
“[Telstra] don’t see this as being, there’s no evidence of it being malicious, but those investigations are underway”, he said, per The Guardian.
He said Telstra is investigating while the government works closely with the company and emergency services, and that “the 000 custodian is in constant contact with Telstra” as those investigations continue.
Small businesses are feeling it at the till too. Payments provider Tyro, whose EFTPOS terminals are used by about 80,000 businesses, has warned some customers may not be able to connect to the 4G network to process transactions and is advising shops and venues to temporarily switch terminals over to ethernet or Wi‑Fi if possible.
Consumer group ACCAN has described the impact on customers as “immediate and real” and says Telstra needs to front up with “clear, transparent information about what has happened, who is affected, and when services will be restored”, especially given a run of big telco outages in recent years.
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