TPG Telecom says Sydney person died after outdated phone software blocked Triple Zero calls

ABC NEWS (Australia)

TPG Telecom says a person in Sydney has died after outdated software on a phone blocked a customer from making triple zero calls. The caller was eventually able to get through on a direct ambulance number. But this incident has again exposed critical flaws in the nation's emergency call system two months after the deadly Optus outage.

Transcript

00:00In this latest triple zero failure, TPG Telecom says it's not the network to blame.

00:08It says a person died last Thursday after their relative was unable to make emergency calls.

00:14TPG says the failed calls were due to a Samsung device operating on software

00:19that wasn't compatible with making triple zero calls on the network.

00:23The caller was able to get through to a direct ambulance line.

00:27We've been warning about serious issues within the whole telecommunications ecosystem

00:32when it comes to triple zero and it hasn't been resolved.

00:37Last month, Telstra warned that older models of Samsung phones were failing to connect with triple zero.

00:43TPG says it told customers to urgently update their software,

00:48but experts think it could have been better communicated.

00:51Unless you know what's going on, you might not think about it.

00:56People, particularly with older phones, are a bit less likely to do a software upgrade.

01:03The Communications Minister Annika Wells says it's a tragic situation that will be investigated.

01:09It comes after three people, including an eight-week-old baby,

01:13died in September after a catastrophic triple zero failure on Optus.

01:18It shouldn't matter what telephone company you are with.

01:22It shouldn't matter what device you have.

01:25You should be able to access triple zero at your time of need.

01:30The industry regulator is now looking at whether any triple zero rules were breached.

01:35Samsung says it's working closely with telcos to ensure all mobile phones can be relied upon in an emergency.

01:44Samsung says it's working closely with telcos to ensure the passing of the company.

01:45Samsung, Samsung says it's working closely with telcos.

01:47It's working closely with telcos.

01:49They're working closely with telcos and telcos.

01:50It's working closely with telcos which are included the technology that deserves.

01:51And, again, such as obvious, this is almost a bit higher when there's a difference between telcos.

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