Mobile virtual network operators like Boost Mobile and Kogan Mobile have been among the biggest winners in the wake of the Optus outage, reporting up to a 500 per cent spike in new customers, claims Tech Guide editor Stephen Fenech .
The nationwide outage on November 8 impacted around 10 million Optus customers including hospitals and businesses – just over a year after the telco giant suffered one of the worst cybersecurity breaches in Australian history.
Fenech told SkyNews.com.au Australians had been “far less forgiving” of this Optus blunder, than when their personal information provided to the telco was leaked on the dak web.
“I know one thing for sure, based on hearing from my readers and listeners, there are far more people leaving Optus after the outage than did after the data breach in September 2022,” Fenech said.
“Back then they were worried about their data being out there but their services still worked.
“This time, after landline, mobile and internet services were all down at the same time, customers are far less forgiving.”
Weighing-in on the biggest market shifts following the fiasco, Fenech said Vodafone was quick to jump on the opportunity to encourage frustrated Optus users to make the switch.
“Vodafone, on the day of the Optus outage, sent out a press releases on how fast a customer could sign up to the network using the eSIM on their smartphone so they could connect in a matter of minutes,” he explained.
“I understand Vodafone has been signing up four times as many new customers in the past week.”
While Telstra hasn’t commented on the increase, Fenech says judging by lines outside of stores it’s likely Australia’s biggest telco experienced a similar, if not larger spike in new customers.
But Fennech said it has been mobile virtual network operators like Boost Mobile that have been equally if not more popular options for the unhappy customers fleeing Optus.
“The other big winners are MVNO (mobile virtual network operators) like Boost Mobile (which uses the Telstra network) and Kogan Mobile (which uses Vodafone) which are reporting five times and four times more sign ups respectively than normal,” Fenech said.
Meanwhile, Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin resigned on Monday over the incident – which was reportedly sparked by a software update – after facing repeated calls to step down.
On Friday, Ms Bayer Rosmarin fronted a Senate inquiry into the telecommunication provider’s massive blackout that crippled the nation but dodged questions about her future at Optus.
“This morning there’s been a media report that you intend to resign as CEO. Is it your intention to resign?” Senator Henderson asked.
The Optus chief insisted her “entire focus” had been on fixing the outage.During the inquiry, the Optus boss also retraced her steps on the day of the outage when she woke up to discover she had no service on her phone.
She decided to “immediately” head into the office but realised on the way there the outage was more serious than first thought as she still had no service.
“Once I was in the car and I couldn’t not call the team, I realised it must be a more serious outage since I was already enroute, I continued driving and I did not stop and switch to an alternative SIM,” she told senators.
Public backlash towards Ms Bayer Rosmarin’s leadership began during the chaos of the November 8 outage, which paralysed communications for millions of Australians, including emergency triple zero calls.
Scores of businesses who relied on the telco’s infrastructure to operate their points of sale were also unable to process transactions, frustrating many small business owners such as hairdressers and barbers.
In a comment that was widely perceived as tone-deaf and out of touch, Ms Bayer Rosmarin appeared to make light of the frustrated small business owners. “
I’m disappointed that a barber couldn’t do haircuts today,” she told Nine News on the day of the outage.”That seems like one of the few things you can do without connectivity.”