TPG has confirmed that a customer has lost their life after their Samsung smartphone was unable to connect to Triple Zero.
The incident comes just weeks after concerns about this issue were raised by Telstra. While a software-based fix is available for newer Samsung devices, some of the older affected models will need to be replaced outright.
At that time, a Samsung spokesperson told WhistleOut that the company and its carrier partners "are working together to ensure all devices operate reliably in every emergency situation".
In a statement, TPG confirmed that it had acted to communicate the issue to customers and urged them to update affected devices as recently as November 7.
"Handsets not updated are blocked after a period of 28 to 35 days from the first contact to the customer, as required under new regulations," the company said.
TPG Managing Director and CEO Inaki Berroeta insisted that customer safety remains the company’s highest priority.
“This is a tragic incident, and our condolences and thoughts are with the individual’s family and loved ones. Access to emergency services is critical. We urge all customers with outdated software to replace or update their devices without delay to ensure they can reach Triple Zero in an emergency,” said Berroeta.
Following the incident, TPG confirmed that it has notified the relevant government and regulatory bodies, including the Minister for Communications, the NSW Government, ACMA, and Triple Zero Custodian.
As opposed to something like the recent Optus Triple Zero outage, the TPG mobile network was operational and outage-free at the time of the incident. Early investigations by TPG suggest that the failure to connect to Triple Zero was instead due to the customer’s Samsung device relying on software that was not compatible with making Triple Zero calls on the network following the 3G shutdown.
As a result of these software issues, several Samsung devices released between 2015 and 2021 are unable to connect to the Vodafone network to make a Triple Zero call in situations where another network like Telstra or Optus is unavailable.
In the weeks since the issue was made public, Australia’s carriers have been contacting affected customers and informing them that they need to either upgrade the software or, in some cases, replace their phone in order to stay connected in an emergency situation.
The following devices will need to be replaced:
- Galaxy A7 (2017)
- Galaxy A5 2017
- Galaxy J1 2016
- Galaxy J3 2016
- Galaxy J5 (2017)
- Galaxy Note 5
- Galaxy S6
- Galaxy S6 Edge
- Galaxy S6 Edge Plus
- Galaxy S7
- Galaxy S7 Edge
The following phones will need a software update to ensure Triple Zero connectivity works as intended:
- Galaxy A31
- Galaxy A32
- Galaxy A42 5G
- Galaxy A50
- Galaxy A52
- Galaxy A71
- Galaxy A71 5G
- Galaxy A72
- Galaxy A8 (2018)
- Galaxy J7 Prime
- Galaxy J7 Pro
- Galaxy J8
- Galaxy Note 10
- Galaxy Note 20
- Galaxy Note 20 Ultra
- Galaxy S20 FE
- Galaxy S20 FE
- Galaxy S20 Plus
- Galaxy XCover 4s
- Galaxy XCover 5
- Galaxy Z Flip 5G
- Galaxy A11
- Galaxy A12
- Galaxy A12s
- Galaxy A20
- Galaxy A21s
- Galaxy A22 5G
- Galaxy A30
- Galaxy A32 5G
- Galaxy A51
- Galaxy A52 5G
- Galaxy A70
- Galaxy A90 5G
- Galaxy Fold
- Galaxy Note 10 Plus
- Galaxy Note 10 Plus 5G
- Galaxy Note 8
- Galaxy Note 9
- Galaxy Note 20 5G
- Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G
- Galaxy S10
- Galaxy S10 5G
- Galaxy S10 Plus
- Galaxy S10e
- Galaxy S20
- Galaxy S20 5G
- Galaxy S20 FE 5G
- Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G
- Galaxy S20 Plus 5G
- Galaxy S21 5G
- Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
- Galaxy S21 Plus 5G
- Galaxy S8
- Galaxy S8 Plus
- Galaxy S9
- Galaxy S9 Plus
- Galaxy Xcover Pro
- Galaxy Z Flip
- Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G
- J2 Pro
Reached for comment, a Samsung spokesperson provided WhistleOut with the following statement.
"We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of a TPG Telecom customer and extend our heartfelt condolences to their family and loved ones in this difficult time.""We are continuing to work closely with our carrier partners to ensure that all devices operate reliably in every emergency situation."
"We strongly encourage customers to keep their mobile devices updated with the latest software, as this is critical to maintaining the highest standards of safety, security, and performance. Customers with mobile devices requiring updates or replacements have been notified by their mobile carrier with instructions," they said.
Fergus Halliday
Digital Content Editor
Related Articles
