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UPDATED: Telstra Outage Hits Triple Zero, Trains And EFTPOS As 90% Restored – Channelnews
Telstra said the outage was intermittent and had not identified the cause, while shares fell as train networks and payments were also disrupted.
On Wednesday, July 8, 2026, a nationwide telecommunications outage disrupted Telstra services for millions of customers beginning around 4:30am AEST, affecting New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania, and the Northern Territory.
Telstra Chief Financial Officer Michael Ackland described the disruption as a "set of intermittent outages" affecting people nationwide, while confirming the company has not identified the root cause and found no indication of malicious activity.
Major public transport networks, including Victoria's V/Line regional trains, were halted by the outage; EFTPOS provider Tyro confirmed some customers could not process transactions over 4G, affecting payment-dependent businesses.
As of 10:00am AEST, Telstra claimed 90% of its network had been restored, while CEO Vicki Brady remained overseas and CFO Michael Ackland managed recovery efforts, advising customers to attempt reconnection.
Consumer advocates are demanding a full explanation of the outage, while One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce called for an investigation into potential links to China's Pacific ballistic missile launch, though no evidence suggests foreign interference.