澳大利亚通信和媒体管理局（ACMA）已在联邦法院对电信运营商Optus提起民事处罚诉讼，指控其在去年9月的一次大规模网络中断事件中违反法律义务[1][2]。该次中断发生于2023年9月18日，在南澳大利亚、西澳大利亚、北领地和新州西部地区持续约13小时，导致1005次紧急求助电话（Triple Zero）无法接通[2]，与两人死亡事件相关[1][2]。
ACMA指控Optus违反两项法律义务超过1000次[1]，对每次违规行为法院最高可处以25万澳元罚款[1][2]，意味着潜在罚款总额可能超过2.5亿澳元[2]。ACMA主席Nerida O'Loughlin表示："澳大利亚民众理应期待拨打Triple Zero电话时能够接通。提供紧急呼救服务是强制性的，而非可选的。"[2]
Australia's Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has filed civil penalty proceedings against Optus Mobile in Federal Court over a significant network disruption affecting emergency services [1][2]. The outage occurred on September 18, 2023, and resulted in 1,005 failed Triple Zero emergency calls across South Australia, Western Australia, the Northern Territory, and western New South Wales [2]. The disruption lasted approximately 13 hours [2] and has been linked to two deaths [1][2].
ACMA alleges that Optus breached legal obligations more than 1,000 times during the incident [1]. Each breach carries a maximum penalty of $250,000, potentially bringing the total penalty to over $250 million [2]. ACMA Chair Nerida O'Loughlin stated: "Australians rightly expect that when they call Triple Zero, their call will connect. Giving access to the emergency call service is not optional." [2]
This legal action follows a similar incident in 2023, when Optus and other Singtel subsidiaries paid more than $12 million for comparable failures [2].