Optus, the country’s second-largest network operator, experienced a sudden nationwide outage, cutting off more than 10 million Australians from internet and phone services. The outage began in the early hours of Wednesday, disrupting payment systems, online operations, and train services during the morning rush hour in cities like Melbourne. While Optus CEO, Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, ruled out a cyber-attack, the company did not provide a reason for the hours-long outage. As a result, hospitals were unable to receive phone calls and emergency calls from landlines on the Optus network were impossible. Some services were gradually restored about six hours after the disruption began. The outage has raised concerns about fundamental problems in Australia’s communications networks and has prompted calls for the government to force the telecommunications industry to build redundancy into their systems. This incident comes just over a year after more than 9 million Optus customers had their personal data stolen during a cyber attack.