A large-scale failure in the system of Australia's second largest provider left several million residents of the country's east coast without mobile communications and the Internet. The cause of the failure is currently unknown. The government rules out the possibility of a cyber-attack. Representatives of the provider company note that they are doing everything possible to restore communication, but do not give specific deadlines for completing the work. This is described in the “MIR 24” TV report with reference to information from the ABC radio station.
As noted in the source, reports of a shutdown of mobile communications and the Internet began to arrive around 05:30 local time. People complained about the lack of Internet, as well as the inability to contact family and friends by phone. Phone numbers for a number of medical services were unavailable, including ambulance, databases of several universities, taxi services and food delivery.
In addition, it became known that public transport in Melbourne had been stopped. A number of banks and payment systems also stopped working.
Experts are inclined to believe that the problem arose due to an incorrect attempt to update the system. Presumably, this caused a cascading failure at all levels, causing the entire system to collapse.
