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Singapore Telecommunications’ subsidiary Optus has acknowledged the impact of a network outage caused by a software upgrade last Wednesday, which disrupted services for millions of Australian customers. The outage, which affected essential services and small businesses, led to substantial indirect losses due to interrupted payment processing capabilities.
In response to the situation, Optus CEO Kelly Bayer (OTC:) Rosmarin stated on Friday during a Singtel earnings call that the company had received customer claims totaling A$430,000 ($279,193). To address the inconvenience caused, Optus has opted to offer additional data to its customers as a gesture of goodwill, rather than direct financial compensation.
Despite the considerable disruption, Optus has so far compensated customers with A$36,000 ($23,299). The company maintains that there is no established precedent for compensating indirect losses resulting from such outages. However, Optus has expressed a readiness to participate in discussions led by the government on the topic of broader compensation.
Optus cautioned that holding telecommunications providers responsible for business losses could have wider implications for other sectors and consumers. This statement comes amid ongoing debates about the responsibilities of service providers in such events and the potential effects of enforcing liability for indirect losses on industry practices and consumer prices.
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