Optus Outage Caused by Vandalism Impacts 70K Customers, Threatens Triple Zero Calls in NSW Hunter

A major communications disruption in the NSW Hunter region was caused by a deliberate act of vandalism at a mobile phone tower, knocking out services for nearly 70,000 Optus customers and impacting critical triple zero calls.

The damage occurred on Maitland Road in Hexham, Newcastle, at 9:30 am yesterday. The incident temporarily brought down mobile voice and data services, with the outage lasting for hours.

Optus confirmed the outage immediately affected customers’ ability to connect with emergency services unless they were within the coverage of another mobile network or could call via Wi-Fi. Welfare checks are now underway in the region to investigate any failed attempts to connect with emergency services.

The crime scene has been established, and police are appealing for dashcam footage to identify those responsible for the vandalism.

Optus later apologised, confirming that services have been fully restored.

The vandalism didn’t stop with Optus. Telstra confirmed the criminal damage also knocked out five of its mobile sites and some landline services in different parts of NSW. Telstra spokesperson highlighted the broader issue of copper theft and vandalism:

“Vandalism and copper theft is a significant international issue that affects all service companies… The impact of vandalism like this can be significant for businesses, individuals and critical community services.”

Telstra also noted that these acts divert work crews, delaying the resolution of other customer issues.

The incident is particularly sensitive as it occurred just a day after Optus Chairman and CEO Stephen Rue was questioned at a senate inquiry over a previous triple zero outage in September, during which three customers who were unable to call the emergency line tragically died.