# Australian officials promised telecommunications giant Optus will have to face the consequences over a systems outage linked to multiple deaths. The incident last week left hundreds of people across more than half of the country unable to call emergency services for 13 hours. At least three people died as a result, and its chief executive has apologised to their families and the public for the unacceptable failure. Optus is one of the country’s two major providers, and is now under fire for its delayed handling of the incident.
Anger in Australia after telecom outage linked to deaths