Optus Padam Internet Network Makes Australian People's Dependence On The Internet More Highlighted

Small observers, as happened in Australia when internet networks in the country experienced disruptions. Many daily activities and even businesses have had problems, in recent days.

For a radio talkback listener, the first sign that there was a problem with Australia's second-largest internet provider Optus comes as its cat's wifi-based food delivery machine fails to give breakfast at 6:10 am and its pet was forced to wake it up.

For Chris Rogers, a disabled allowance recipient who needs a pain reliever for a knee injury that prevents him from working, the problem becomes clear when he drives for 30 minutes to a pharmacy and his electronic recipe cannot be filled.

"Due to the disturbance, it will not be loaded," Rogers told Reuters as he waited at the pharmacy for the internet connection to return. "The signal is so bad. It's crazy, I've never seen chaos like this."

For millions of Australians unable to pay for goods, book travel, get medical treatment, or even make phone calls, outages of nearly a nine-hour service from companies providing 40% of the country's internet network is a lesson about the risk of people almost completely turning to the online world.

In three years to 2022, cash transactions in Australia have halved to 16% as pandemic restrictions accelerate long-term trends towards contactless payments, according to the Australian Central Bank. Half of the country's doctors' promises were made online or by telephone, according to government data.

"We are now very dependent, due to COVID, on remote health services as well as electronic messaging systems," said Michael Clements, chairman of the Royal Australian College of General Practicers.