Residents in bushfire-ravaged areas of regional Victoria are furious after an Apple iPhone software update this week left them unable to use their mobile phones and contact emergency services.
Emma, from Harcourt, said neither Telstra nor Apple helped her when she lost her insurance.
“The fire started all around us, consuming the front and back yards of the house and the corner of the house.”
she said.
“It was a really terrible time without cell phones.
“I’m talking about things like child insurance and telemedicine, so it’s really painful.”
She said she contacted Telstra and Apple using her husband’s phone, but received no clear answers as to when or how the issue would be resolved.
Harcourt resident Emma lost her service as the bushfire approached her property. (Supplied)
“Telstra were completely silent. Apple had no idea I was talking to them when they told me I should buy a new phone so I could use the phone.”
Some Telstra customers were left without service this week after users with iPhone 8, 8 Plus and X devices installed a software update that affected their connectivity.
Emma said it was the worst possible time to have no mobile phone reception as the bushfires approached outside her home. (provided.)
Kate, who asked that her real name not be used, said she lives in the Strathbogie Ranges in Victoria’s north-east, which has been affected by the bushfires, and her phone went out on Wednesday morning.
“I went to text someone and they said, ‘No service.’
Kate said her service was unavailable and she spent hours on customer messaging services trying to get answers from Apple and Telstra.
“Basically, it said, ‘Message failed.’ I tried again. I did that a few times.
“At that point, it was getting a little bit painful being here alone in the middle of nowhere in a 40-degree day. I called triple zero and they wouldn’t even get through.”
Kate is a Telstra Priority Assist customer as she lives with an inoperable aneurysm.
She said she spent the day checking with Telstra online and on WhatsApp to get answers.
“I was so tired and I felt like I was just being gaslighted in a circular loop with no one around because no one would help me even though they said they couldn’t help me.
“(I) just had a blind panic, just a feeling of fear and adrenaline pumping through my body.”
Telstra said in a statement that it was disappointed that Kate and Emma did not have a positive experience when seeking support.
A company spokeswoman said Kate was offered immediate transfer to emergency services if she felt she was in danger.
The company said it had “investigated the impact with Apple and acted quickly to communicate this to our customers via our website, My Telstra app, social media and pre-recorded contact center messages, as well as to brief our customer care teams so they can further support our customers.”
“Regulators need to step up.”
Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) director Carol Bennett said she believed self-regulation within the telecoms industry was not working and there was a risk of further triple zero connectivity failures unless governments and regulators did more.
“It’s clear that industry self-regulation does not address the really difficult issues of reliability, quality, cost, and safety,” she says.
Telstra has issued instructions on how to resolve the issue with an operating system update. (AFP: Greg Wood)
“Regulators need to step up in this area and regulate in the public interest so people can use their phones, devices and networks with confidence when they need them most.”
This week, a day after customers first reported connectivity issues, Telstra and Apple released instructions on how to resolve the issue with an operating system update.
Mr Bennett said it was wrong to leave it up to the customer to solve the problem.
“They need clear messages about what is going on, what to do to address these issues, and they need to know that these issues have been resolved and are being resolved.”
The failure occurred when some iPhone users updated their phones. (ABC South East SA: Kate Hill)
The reliability of connections to Triple Zero services has come under scrutiny since a major Optus outage last year resulted in two deaths.
The Triple Zero Custodian is intended to “help protect emergency alert systems,” but its legislative powers, which include responding to power outages that disrupt emergency alert services, only came into effect four months ago.
At the time, device compliance and triple-zero disruption notifications were two key priorities identified by custodians.
The ABC has asked the Triple Zero Authority whether there will be an investigation into the mobile phone failure.
“The custodian is closely monitoring issues affecting Triple Zero and will escalate issues with the Australian Communications and Media Authority and industry as appropriate,” a spokesperson said.
“Work by the custodian and the independent regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority, continues to strengthen the triple-zero system and hold carriers accountable to the Australian community,” the federal communications minister’s office said in a statement.
The Senate inquiry was set up following Optus’ Triple Zero failure in September last year. A report on the findings is expected to be released in March.