Australian operator Optus’ MD of networks Lambo Kanagaratnam quit the company, The Sydney Morning Herald reported, four months after CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin resigned in the wake of a massive outage.
The newspaper revealed the contents of an internal memo distributed to the operator’s staff, which also announced group CTO of Optus-parent Singtel Jorge Fernandes as taking over Kanagaratnam’s remit on an interim basis.
It provided little detail on the reason for his departure apart from stating the executive “made the decision that the time is right for him to leave Optus”. The company reportedly praised Kanagaratnam’s work and nine-year service at the company in its note.
Kanagaratnam had appeared alongside then CEO Bayer Rosmarin at a senate hearing to explain an outage in November 2023 which crippled its network, impacting consumers, hospitals and government organisations.
Fallout from the issue caused a raft of negative headlines for the operator and widespread criticism.
Bayer Rosmarin resigned shortly after the hearing with politicians, stating the move was in the best interests of the operator. She was succeeded on an interim basis by CFO Michael Venter, who remains in charge.
