TPG customer dies after his phone was TOO OLD to dial Triple Zero
- Telco blamed tragedy on customer's 'outdated' phone
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A customer died after an 'outdated' Samsung phone could not connect to triple-0 via TPG Telecom's budget Lebara network
The Vodafone-owned telco giant confirmed that a customer died last Thursday after a relative attempted to call triple-0 but could not connect because their Samsung phone was incompatible with the network.
The telco was finally made aware of the tragic death on Monday afternoon following 'advice from NSW Ambulance'.
According to TPG, the network was 'fully operational' during the attempted call and no outages had occurred.
Instead, TPG blamed the customer's Samsung phone which ran 'software that was not compatible with making triple-0 calls on the network'.
TPG had recently identified the incompatibility issue, which required users to activate a software update on various older Samsung phone models.
The company explained the software update would activate triple-0 functionality on TPG’s network.
TPG chief executive Inaki Berroeta said 'customer safety remains our highest priority'.
TPG chief executive Inaki Berroeta has assured 'customer safety remains our highest priority' in the wake of a customer's tragic death last week
According to TPG, the network was 'fully operational' during the attempted call and no outages had occurred
'This is a tragic incident, and our condolences and thoughts are with the individual’s family and loved ones,' Mr Berroeta said.
'Access to emergency services is critical. We urge all customers with outdated software to replace or update their devices without delay to ensure they can reach triple-0 in an emergency.'
The Australian Communications and Media Authority watchdog last month warned some Samsung phones released between 2015 and 2017 could not automatically transfer emergency calls to TPG’s Vodafone network during outages.
TPG said that the company had been communicating with customers since becoming aware of the incompatibility issue and has alerted relevant government agencies and regulators.
The telco urged customers to update devices while the company is required under new regulations to block non-compliant handsets after a 28-35 day period.
It's been reported, the most recent communication to customers with outdated phones was sent on November 7, just six days before the customer's death.
The latest tragedy comes less than two months after three people who died in September were linked to an Optus outage where more than 600 calls to triple-0 failed.
The deaths include an eight-week-old boy and a 68-year old woman from South Australia, and a 74-year-old man in Western Australia.
Federal opposition communications spokesperson Melissa McIntosh MP warned of the industry’s handling of device compatibility issues tied to the 3G shutdown
The tragic Optus failure is currently the subject of a Federal Senate investigation.
The latest investigation into the TPG tragedy is still ongoing and it comes just weeks after federal opposition communications spokesperson Melissa McIntosh warned of the industry’s handling of device compatibility issues tied to the 3G shutdown.
'Telstra and Optus have failed to identify this issue until more than a year after the closure of the 3G network,' Ms McIntosh said last month.
