What an NFP should do after a telco outage

For not-for-profits delivering essential services, a telco outage can be far more than an inconvenience. It can affect frontline workers, people seeking support, regional teams, payment systems and, in the most serious circumstances, access to emergency services.

At the peak of the Telstra outage in July 2026 it affected around 45 per cent of calls and data sessions across Telstra’s mobile network. ABC News

And when you're relying on mobile services to coordinate people and deliver support, disruption on that scale can quickly become an operational and potentially a safety issue.

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In brief

A major outage is a good reason to review how your NFP stays connected, but not necessarily to change providers. Consider where your people work, which services are critical, whether you have genuine network redundancy, and how options such as wholesalers, Wi-Fi calling and satellite services could support continuity. The aim is to keep delivering to your community when a network is unavailable.

So, should your NFP review its connectivity arrangements after a major outage?

Yes. But that review should consider the whole set-up and not simply the carrier involved in the latest outage.

Outages aren’t limited to one carrier

Telstra isn’t the only network to experience serious disruption.

In September 2025, an Optus network failure prevented hundreds of Triple Zero calls from connecting across several states and territories. Later that month, another local Optus outage affected emergency calls around Dapto in New South Wales. ABC News, ACMA

Vodafone experienced an hours-long mobile outage in June 2026. It also affected customers of providers using the Vodafone network, including TPG, iiNet, Internode and Lebara. ABC News

The reality is that no carrier can guarantee its network will never fail. Moving every mobile service in response to the latest headline may simply swap one set of risks for another.

A better response is to treat the outage as a timely reason to review your options.

Look beyond the familiar names

Australia has three major mobile networks: Telstra, Optus and TPG Telecom, which operates the Vodafone network. But they aren’t the only options. Satellite services such as Starlink are extending connectivity beyond traditional mobile coverage and are likely to play a growing role for regional and remote teams.

Mobile virtual network operators, often called MVNOs or wholesalers, purchase access to an underlying network and sell services under their own brands. Depending on what your organisation needs, they may offer better pricing, different support arrangements or greater flexibility.

There is an important catch, though. Changing the name on your bill doesn’t always mean changing the network beneath it.

Moving to a wholesaler that uses the Telstra network, for example, may provide commercial benefits. But it may not protect you from an outage affecting that underlying network.

That doesn’t rule wholesalers out. It means understanding the network being used, available coverage, the support model and what happens during an outage.

Could domestic roaming change the picture?

There may be more flexibility on the horizon. The ACCC is taking a closer look at regional mobile coverage and whether telcos should be required to share parts of their networks. One idea on the table is domestic roaming, which could allow your phone to jump onto another network when your usual provider has no coverage.

The inquiry will also look at direct-to-device satellite services, which allow compatible phones to connect directly to a satellite when mobile coverage isn’t available. Telstra already offers an early version of this through Starlink, supporting messaging and selected apps on eligible devices. The ACCC is looking more broadly at how this technology could develop and improve coverage and competition across Australia.

It’s one to watch, but not something NFPs can rely on just yet. For now at least, these are possibilities rather than practical backup options.

Start with how your people actually work

The right strategy isn’t necessarily about finding one carrier for everyone. It’s about matching services and backup options to how your people work.

Consider:

• Where do your people work? Consider regional, remote and known low-coverage areas.

• Which roles are most dependent on mobile connectivity? What would happen if their usual service was unavailable for several hours?

• Do critical users need another way to connect? This might include a second network, satellite service, Wi-Fi calling or an internet-based phone service.

• Could other devices help? Laptops or tablets with their own SIMs, network dongles or carefully managed BYOD arrangements, may provide another option.

• Are your devices suitable? Check that phones, SIMs, software support, network features, MDM platforms and emergency functions you rely on.

Test the network and your backup plan

Coverage maps are a useful starting point, particularly with new ACMA rules designed to make them clearer and easier to compare. But a coverage map is no substitute for checking how the network performs where your people actually work.

That could mean using test SIMs from different networks, running simple coverage and speed tests at key locations, and asking field-based staff where calls drop out or data becomes unreliable.

Redundancy also needs some care. Having two providers that use the same underlying network doesn’t give you true network redundancy. For critical roles, a stronger approach may involve separate networks, compatible devices and a straightforward outage plan your people can put into practice.

For organisations with multiple sites or regional teams, more structured network testing can provide a clearer picture before making a fleet-wide decision.

Connectivity is only one part of the picture. Your organisation also needs a practical plan for keeping people informed and essential services operating during an interruption. For more on contingency planning, backup connections and responding to an outage, read our guide to preparing and protecting your organisation during a telco outage.

Review first. React second.

A major outage doesn’t automatically mean your NFP should change carriers. Equally, staying with the same arrangements simply because they’re familiar isn’t much of a strategy either.

The right answer might be to:

• Stay with your current carrier

• Move some or all services

• Include a wholesale provider

• Split critical services across different networks

• Introduce satellite or other backup options for particular roles

• Improve your continuity arrangements without changing your primary carrier

Using more than one provider can improve resilience, but it can also mean more contracts, bills, support channels and renewal dates to manage. Centralised reporting and telco management can reduce that administrative burden by bringing services and costs across multiple providers into one view - and that’s firmly in Dog and Bone’s wheelhouse through our telco reporting dashboard and ongoing telco management.

The important thing is to make the decision based on evidence: where your people work, what they need, available coverage, device compatibility, satellite options, data use, support, risk and cost.

It helps to get advice from someone who doesn’t have a carrier or service plans in the race. Dog and Bone is independent, so we can help NFPs look across the market, challenge a few “we’ve always done it this way” assumptions, and find the right balance of coverage, cost and resilience.

If a major outage has you questioning your mobile arrangements, it’s a good time to look more closely. Not necessarily to switch, but to make sure your current set-up still makes sense.