SYDNEY, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Optus, one of the largest telecom companies in Australia, has been fined more than 1.5 million Australian dollars (about 980,000 U.S. dollars) for large-scale breaches of public safety rules.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) confirmed on Wednesday that the telco giant put nearly 200,000 mobile customers at risk by failing to upload required information to the Integrated Public Number Database (IPND) between January 2021 and September 2023.
The database is used by critical services to warn Australians of disasters such as floods and bushfires. The country's main emergency service number Triple Zero also utilized IPND to provide location information to the police, ambulance, and fire brigade.
According to the communications watchdog, Optus failed to upload the required information via its outsourced supplier.
"While we are not aware of anyone being directly harmed due to the non-compliance in this case, it's alarming that Optus placed so many customers in this position for so long," said ACMA member Samantha Yorke.
"Optus cannot outsource its obligations, even if part of the process is being undertaken by a third party," Yorke added.
In addition, the ACMA accepted a court-enforceable undertaking from the company, which required an independent review of its IPND compliance where Optus used a third-party data provider. ■
