Hi Petition Signers,
Today the 26th of September marks one year since I created this Petition.
The petition is also very close to 10,000 signatures with about 100 to go!
Please continue to share the petition to raise awareness, it does make a difference, especially now given recent events.
Last year on 11 September 2024 I learned about the intention from the Government (and the then Minister) to require the telcos to block 4G/5G phones with the 3G Shutdown.
You can read more about that here:
Australia’s 3G Shutdown - Telcos to Block Working 4G/5G Phones!
Two weeks later on 29 September 2024 Hugh Jeffreys published his video on the issue:
Australia To Block Internationally Purchased 4G/5G Phones As Part of 3G Shutdown
That video is now sitting at over 385,000 views and over 17,000 likes, with all three of his videos about this issue now sitting at over 800,000 Views.
Given today marks one year since the creation of the petition and this issue is yet to be resolved, I thought it important to post an update.
Since my last update in July there hasn't been any significant updates to share.
I'm still very much working on this issue and I've made some meaningful progress in the last few weeks, which I hope to be in a position to share soon.
Looking back on the last year fighting this issue it's been staggering to see how easily and frequently checks & balances that are supposed to protect consumers and the public completely fail to do so, or respond far too slowly.
No doubt not a surprise to many.
There is awareness of the problem by regulators, however there still remains no resolution, nearly 1 year since the Shutdown.
Consumers are still out of pocket hundreds to thousands of dollars for new phones they were forced to buy and didn't need, and devices that work for 000 on all networks remain blocked by some or all of the providers.
Including those used by Tourists!
However we may see that change with enough pressure.
Please continue to raise awareness of this issue including sharing the Petition!
Optus 000 Outage & Failure
I thought I would also briefly discuss the major Optus 000 Outage that occurred last week.
Articles below for those not up-to-date with the events.
ABC News - Optus triple-0 outage tragedy: What we know and how events unfolded - 23 Sep 2025
I'm sure like many of you, I was surprised but not entirely shocked to see something once again go wrong so soon.
What occurred is absolutely appalling.
I think it's clear to see that there are significant issues that plague the sector and Optus especially.
(Which I think has been obvious for some time)
However there is now an opportunity here to raise further awareness about telco failures, particularly in regards to 000 access and consumer safeguards. (Including the issues at the focus of this Petition)
Something I've been raising alarms over since 2023.
It's worthing noting the blocking of 4G/5G Devices is technically a separate issue compared to the 000 network failure last week, however both issues are quite interrelated.
Why Calls worked during the Outage but not to 000
Many people have asked why emergency calls didn't work but normal calls did, 4G Calls and 4G Emergency Calls are carried out over two different connections on a device. 'IMS' for Calls 'SOS' for Emergency Calls.
You might be able to make standard calls (over IMS) but that doesn't mean you can actually reliably call 000.
(As many of you would be well aware in relation to the blocking of phones and the shutdown, phones that require 3G for 000 now just get stuck on calling.)
Your device could also say 'SOS only' or 'Emergency Calls Only' but be unable to actually call 000.
Many phones if they have some network service won't try another network to make an Emergency Call, they will get stuck on calling 000 indefinitely or the call will fail to go through!
If you remove the sim the phone will pick a network and place the call.
'Camp-on' (Limited Service State) calling is largely designed around a faulty network being shut down (wilted) or otherwise not available to be used.
Without that many devices will stay connected or try to connect to a faulty tower/network.
The same issue occurred during the 8 November 2023 Optus outage. Phones were still connecting to the faulty Optus network and got stuck trying to call. In that instance the 3G towers were still broadcasting. (Though people couldn't make any calls)
Had the Optus network been properly wilted (shutdown) then all devices would have connected to another provider's network for 000, not just some.
Optus should have wilted their network when 000 was not working.
But it seems they had no real monitoring in place on this occasion, or warnings were ignored?
It will be interesting to find out exactly what went on.
People should know that if 000 doesn't work but normal calls do, you should be able to dial +61 000 (or +61 112) and call 000 as a standard call (depending on the network).
Dialling it with the country code actually calls the number (over the IMS connection) as opposed to establishing an 'SOS' call.
More info about how 4G Emergency Calls work is below.
The Little Known Problems with VoLTE Emergency Calling
Sector Scrutiny, Investigations & Inquiries
I also don't doubt there will likely be some sort of Senate Inquiry established into this latest Optus incident, which will also accept public submissions.
It likely won't be established until at least late October when the Senate sits again.
I have no shortage of information I could provide to such an inquiry, and depending on the terms of reference it may be worthwhile for impacted consumers that have had their 000 Capable phones blocked in error to write a submission.
I know many of you have stories you could share about issues & complaints not being taken seriously or properly escalated.
Obviously the establishment of an Inquiry is yet to be confirmed, but given the reaction about the outage from the public and various Senators & Politicians it's reasonably likely to occur.
Unconscionable Conduct by Optus
This week Optus also was subject to a $100 Million fine by the ACCC in Federal Court following on from Unconscionable Sales Practices to vulnerable customers between August 2019 and July 2023.
Given the recent events I both hope and expect to see significantly more scrutiny applied to the sector and the proper regulation of it.
The problems are abundantly evident and it's clear they must be addressed.
Both for the important public safety issues and consumer issues.
Inconsistent Device Blocking
Also as a reminder a few months ago (in late May) the ABC published a story about the inconsistent blocking by the providers.
ABC News - Telstra and Optus are inconsistently blocking phones. The regulator doesn't know how many
The story includes reference to a site I launched that allows consumers to compare the list of blocked and supported devices between carriers.
https://isthisphoneblocked.net.au
Looking at the data it's abundantly clear the telcos have failed to do proper analysis, especially for phones they didn't sell or their partners didn't sell.
This is especially true for Optus and it does speak to a systemic issue with the analysis they did and broader issues within the organisation.
You can also still connect with phones the telcos are 'officially supported' that cannot call 000 and people still have no way to actually test individual devices without actually going to place an Emergency Call.
As shown in the below Hugh Jeffreys Video from November last year.
Australia’s New Firewall IMEI BLOCKED 516,875 Active Phones Overnight + Tourists Phones Blocked
There also network standardisation issues that haven't been resolved.
There are other issues as well that are of significant concern.
It will be interesting to see what results from this latest telecommunications failure.
Please share this petition on to anyone you know that might find it of interest!
There needs to be accountability and transparency for what occurred and the only way that can happen is if we continue to raise awareness and push for change!
As always, you are welcome to contact me if you have any further information you want to share, multiple contact methods are available.
https://medium.com/@jamesdwho/about
Thank you for all the support and interest with this to date and please continue to share the petition, especially now! There is still a lot more that can be done, including with your help.
There is significant power in numbers (especially in a time like now), but it requires continued pressure from consumers and a demand for better.
This can absolutely change with more pressure!
Regards
James