Warning to Telstra customers as mobile outage impacts Triple-0 calls

New South Wales Police have warned that a major Telstra outage is impacting people trying to call Triple-0.

Telstra is suffering another widespread network outage, with frustrated customers experiencing outages with the company’s mobile network Monday morning.

NSW Police warned the outages across the Telstra 3G and 4G network could be impacting people trying to call Triple-0 (000) or the Police Assistance Line (131 444), however a spokesperson said customers “should automatically be connected via another carrier”.

They said those still experiencing problems should use a landline.

“Until the issue is resolved, those affected should use a phone with another carrier or a landline if needing to call these numbers,” a police spokesperson said.

Telstra said it was working to resolve an issue impacting some 4G mobile voice and data services nationally, adding that it was also causing congestion for 3G services.

“We apologise for the inconvenience and are working to resolve the issue as soon as possible. We are still investigating the root cause. Calls to 000 will connect over other carriers’ networks where they have mobile coverage.”

Telstra customers are reporting outages across both the 3G and 4G networks, while a map produced by Aussie Outages shows the problem is affecting a number of metropolitan hubs around the country.

Customers across the country wasted no time taking their concerns to social media, with many claiming they had been forced back to a 3G connection.

Others said they weren’t able to access the Internet at all.

Following hundreds of Tweets and angry Facebook posts, Telstra responded saying they were aware of an issue impacting their mobile network.

The latest outage comes just weeks after a suspected lightning strike caused some triple-zero calls to drop out for 10 hours across five states.

Telstra said the lightning struck the cable pit in the NSW central-west about, which resulted in “intermittent” issues with calls to emergency services in NSW, Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania.

Telstra posted a picture of a cable pit in Orange, surrounded by a large area of burnt ground and vegetation.

The incident has raised serious concerns about the reliability of the triple-zero service, with federal Communications Minister Mitch Fifield asking his department for a report.

Yahoo7 News has contacted Telstra for comment.