Transcript - Press conference (Triple Zero Samsung device issues) - 23 October 2025

Melissa McIntosh MP
Shadow Minister for Communications
Shadow Minister for Women
Federal Member for Lindsay

23 October 2025

Transcript

Press conference – Penrith, NSW

Topics: Samsung devices; Triple Zero network; 3G network shutdown; ACMA.  

E&OE …

Melissa McIntosh

And here we are again talking about the failures for Australian people when it comes to being able to call Triple Zero. It has been discovered, and I've got a note here from the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman that some older Samsung mobiles have issues connecting to Triple Zero. This has just been issued by the Ombudsman and it seems that around 50,000, that's 50,000 people are going to be impacted because their Samsung phones won't be able to connect to Triple Zero in about 27 days’ time.

And this has to do with the government's failed shutdown of the 3G network a year ago. A year ago, so a year later we are now finding out that if people's networks have an issue, they can't camp-on to another network. So, if Telstra goes out in a regional town across Australia, in Sydney, Melbourne, anywhere in this country, they won't be able to then get onto the Optus network.

What has the telecommunications companies been doing for a year? What has the government been doing for a year? And I ask again, what has ACMA, the regulator, been doing for a year since the shutdown of the 3G network?

I have been calling for an independent, thorough investigation into the whole Triple Zero ecosystem. And this is the exact reason why we have had outages by Optus. Four people died during that outage. We know of other outages by telecommunications providers. We know the NBN had issues which resulted in a Triple Zero outage. And now we are hearing thousands upon thousands of people with Samsung phones will not be able to call Triple Zero if there are network issues and they have less than a month to buy a new phone.

You know who keeps on to old phones for a long time? Older Australians. You know who won't be looking at the Internet today to get this advice. Older Australians. You know who needs Triple Zero the most? Older Australians. We are letting them down. We are letting every single Australian down. The government - where are they today? Where's the Communications Minister? Where is ACMA? And where are the telco providers that are doing this? They need to do so much better by our citizens. That should be the number, number one priority of the government right now.

Any questions?

Journalist

So, as you mentioned, this is just the latest Triple Zero issue that's been in the headlines. Does it suggest that there's something fundamentally wrong with our system? Is it fit for purpose?

McIntosh

I am really concerned about the telecommunications ecosystem and that's why I called for that independent investigation. When we were in Parliament last, I called for a - I suspended standing orders and called for a House inquiry immediately and the government voted against that.

I made a number of amendments to strengthen the legislation that is being rushed through Parliament by the Government to try and strengthen the Custodian, which they all of a sudden think they need. Even though a Custodian, we have found out, has been within the Department of Communications since March.

So, there's this rush going on and all this bureaucracy being applied over bureaucracy, more regulation. But the fundamental thing is that there are failures right across the system. There's failures in the telecommunications providers networks, in their processes, and there's failures within the government because once again ACMA and the government, the Minister for Communications, the Albanese Labor Government, hasn't done anything about a very, very important, essential issue, our most important telecommunications service.

Journalist

What does this say about Australia’s broader readiness for emergencies if a phone fault can stop people from calling Triple Zero? Could there be other vulnerabilities we could be missing?

McIntosh

Yeah, I've been concerned about the approaching disaster season. So, if there's around 50,000 handsets that will no longer be able to camp-on in a network failure, what happens if you're in a bushfire and you can't get through? Well, your phone's not going to camp-on to another Triple Zero network, to another provider. And in fact, by this advice, it looks like within 28 days or so your device is not going to be compatible at all. So how are 50,000-odd Australians going to find out about this issue and get a new handset within a month's time?

And remembering this is an issue that results from the 3G upgrade, the wind back of 3G a year ago. We're a year down the track and we're talking about these problems. Why didn't the government know? What were they doing to oversee the 3G network rollback and what were the telco providers doing? So of course there are issues within the system. That's why I'm pushing so hard for it to be addressed with a sense of urgency.

Journalist

Do you think Australians are losing confidence in the safety of their mobile networks?

McIntosh

I fear Australians are losing confidence in the most essential telecommunications service, the Triple Zero network. I fear they're losing confidence in the Minister to do her job in prioritising Australians first.

You've got to remember, just after the first Triple Zero outage by Optus a couple of weeks ago, she packed up and went overseas and didn't prioritise Australians. And now, a few weeks later, we are hearing that their failed shutdown of the 3G network has resulted in thousands of people being impacted, not being able to call Triple Zero potentially a whole year later.

The government has serious questions to answer to the Australian people because, as I said, approaching disaster season, as you said, people are losing confidence.

Journalist

How quickly can those tens of thousands of Australians that are being like impacted by this expect a coordinated response between the telcos, the government and the manufacturers to ensure that each of those effected users is identified and protected?

McIntosh

That's such a good question. Telstra is saying that it's contacting their customers now that are impacted. I haven't seen a statement by Optus about how they're alerting their customers, but this is a year later from a 3G failed shutdown and now we are rushing. Now these poor Australians that are caught up in this mess are having to rush to buy a new handset. What happens if they can't afford to buy a new handset right now? What happens if they're not picking up the phone when they get contacted by Telstra or Optus eventually and they get caught up in this and they can't make that triple zero call? We're not talking about 10, 15 people. We are talking about tens of thousands of people with a Samsung handset and potentially more. How many more people might be caught up that we just don't know yet?

So, there is still a lot of vagueness about this. But fundamentally, the government shut down the 3G network. It had a responsibility to ensure every part of that shutdown was a success. Now we're looking at big failure and people's lives could be on the line.

Journalist

So, as you mentioned there are people who need to go out and get a new phone and while vulnerable customers will be given a free replacement others will need to go buy one. Is that good enough?

McIntosh

I’d like to see what the telco providers are going to offer their customers, ensuring that they can get upgraded phones so that - they shouldn't have to be doing this. This is the whole point. Regardless of what gets provided to customers now, why are they being put in a position where they have to go and buy a new phone? It's on them to do that when they've been let down by their telco provider and they've been let down by this Government because they failed their 3G network shut down. So now it's on the Australian consumer to have to go and sort out this mess on behalf of the telcos and on behalf of the government and that's just not good enough.

So again, my question is to the Minister. You oversaw the failed shutdown of the 3G network. You've let Australians down. You may need to call Triple Zero. What are you going to do to ensure the safety of Australians so every single person in need can make that call in their desperate state?