Internet outage map today

How Australia's internet market is structured and where outages come from

Australia's internet market is built around two big national networks: the NBN, the wholesale fixed-line infrastructure that delivers internet to almost every home and business, and three mobile networks operated by Telstra, Optus and TPG Telecom (which also owns Vodafone). Around 200 retail ISPs sit on top of this infrastructure, but a handful of brands account for the vast majority of customers. When the internet goes down, the issue can sit on the wholesale NBN, on the retail ISP, on a mobile tower, or on the local electricity network. This page is the starting point for tracking outages across all of these layers.

• How the NBN, the three MNOs and the retail ISP market fit together
• Why the November 2023 Optus outage and the May 2024 Telstra outage shaped Australian telecom reliability debates
• What to check first when the internet or mobile signal drops at home
• The customer-facing outage maps for the major ISPs and how power outages cascade into internet outages

NBN, the wholesale fixed-line network behind every major ISP

The National Broadband Network is the wholesale fixed-line infrastructure owned by the Australian Government and operated by NBN Co. Customers do not buy NBN access directly: they sign up with one of the 200 retail ISPs that lease wholesale access. The network covers around 99% of Australian premises through five access technologies (FTTP, FTTN, FTTC, HFC, fixed-wireless and Sky Muster satellite), each with its own outage profile. When a network event affects the NBN, every retail ISP's customers in that area are affected together.

Telstra, Optus, TPG, the big three retail ISPs

Three brands hold the bulk of Australian fixed-line and mobile customers. Each one runs both fixed-line broadband (resold over the NBN) and a mobile network with national coverage.

Telstra, the market leader and most-watched outage map

Telstra is the largest operator in Australia, with around 22 million mobile services, the most extensive 4G/5G coverage and around 3 million NBN-based fixed-line customers. Its May 2024 national 4G/5G outage left millions of mobile customers without service for several hours.

Optus, the second carrier and the brand behind the 2023 national outage

Optus is the second-largest operator with around 10 million mobile services and around 1 million NBN customers. The November 8 2023 national outage left around 10 million customers without service for most of a working day, the largest single telecommunications event in Australian history, and was followed by federal scrutiny and an extensive resilience programme.

TPG Telecom, the third MNO and parent of Vodafone and iiNet

TPG is the third operator, the result of the 2020 TPG/Vodafone Hutchison merger. It owns the third Australian mobile network (Vodafone-branded) plus three fixed-line brands: TPG, Vodafone and iiNet. A 2024 network sharing agreement with Optus extends regional coverage.

MVNOs and challenger fixed-line brands

Around 50 Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) resell access to the three MNO networks, including Boost Mobile, Belong, ALDImobile (Telstra), amaysim, Catch Connect (Optus), Felix and TPG (TPG). On fixed-line, Aussie Broadband and Superloop are the biggest competitors outside the four major brands, with reputations for service quality.

Why Australian internet outages happen, from the wholesale layer to the home

Outages can hit any layer of the stack. Identifying the right layer is the fastest way to know where to look for status updates.

Wholesale NBN events

A fibre cut, a damaged FTTN node or a Point of Interconnect failure affects every retail ISP's customers in the affected area at once. NBN Co publishes a service status map that retail ISPs republish on their own portals.

ISP-specific events

A core network fault, an authentication system failure or a CVC capacity issue can take down a single ISP without affecting others. The November 2023 Optus event and the May 2024 Telstra mobile event are the highest-profile recent examples.

Mobile network events

Tower failures, transmission backhaul cuts and core mobile faults affect MNOs separately. Telstra, Optus and TPG/Vodafone operate independent mobile networks (except where they share regional sites under the 2024 Optus-TPG MOCN deal).

Severe weather and disasters

Cyclones, storms, floods and bushfires regularly damage NBN fibre, mobile towers and backhaul. Cyclone Alfred in March 2025, Cyclone Jasper in 2023 and the 2022 Northern Rivers floods each took out hundreds of sites needing weeks to restore.

Power outages at the address

The single most common cause of internet outages at home. Home modems, FTTN/FTTC/HFC equipment and local cell towers all rely on electricity. When the power goes out on a street, the internet usually follows, even if every network upstream is healthy.

When a power outage takes the internet down with it

Because home modems, FTTN/FTTC/HFC equipment, mobile towers and NBN exchanges all depend on electricity, a substantial share of internet outages are caused by power outages on the local electricity network. The right place to check first depends on which state the customer is in.

Queensland

South-east Queensland (Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast) is served by Energex. The rest of the state (Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, the outback) is served by Ergon Energy.

New South Wales and ACT

Sydney, the Central Coast and the Hunter are served by Ausgrid. Western Sydney, the Blue Mountains and the Illawarra by Endeavour Energy. Regional and rural NSW by Essential Energy.

Victoria

Eastern Victoria, the Yarra Valley, the Dandenong Ranges and Gippsland are served by AusNet Services. Inner Melbourne, western Victoria, the Mornington Peninsula and the western suburbs are served by CitiPower, Powercor, United Energy and Jemena.

South Australia

The entire state is served by a single distributor, SA Power Networks, covering Adelaide, the Adelaide Hills, the Barossa, the Fleurieu and the Eyre Peninsula.

Western Australia

On the South West Interconnected System (Perth and the south-west), the network operator is Western Power and the residential retailer is Synergy. The rest of WA is served by Horizon Power.

Tasmania

The entire state is served by a single network operator, TasNetworks, which runs both transmission and distribution across the island.

What to do when the internet or mobile is down

The order of checks matters: starting with the right layer saves time.

1. Is there power at the address? If the local power is out, home internet and possibly mobile signal cannot work. Check the local electricity distributor's outage map first.
2. Is the modem reachable? A power-cycle (unplug for 30 seconds, then reconnect) clears the majority of local issues.
3. Is the NBN affected? Check the NBN service status map and the retail ISP's status page.
4. Is mobile service affected? Check the carrier's outage page (Telstra, Optus, TPG, Vodafone).
5. If everything looks normal upstream, raise a fault with the retail ISP, which will escalate to NBN Co if needed.

All Australian ISP and mobile outage pages

Live outage maps and detailed status pages are available for each major Australian internet and mobile provider. The pages below cover the wholesale NBN, the three Mobile Network Operators and the main retail brands.