Emergency services and critical institutions faced disruptions as the system struggled to recover.
The Incident and Preliminary Findings
On October 8, 2024, a Singtel outage disrupted landline services, affecting emergency hotlines, healthcare institutions, and businesses. Intermittent service issues persisted for over three hours before operations were progressively restored.
Senior Minister of State for Digital Development and Information, Dr. Janil Puthucheary, explained in Parliament that a malfunction in one of two network systems supporting Singtel’s fixed line service triggered the issue. Designed to take over one another seamlessly in case of failure, the backup system did not activate as intended, resulting in widespread disruptions.
Impact and Response
The outage disrupted around 2,300 calls, equivalent to 10-30% of daily call volume to public healthcare clusters, though patient care remained unaffected. Emergency services like 995 and 999 were operational but relied on alternative SMS numbers during the outage.
Authorities, including the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), are investigating the incident and assessing Singtel’s response. IMDA has emphasized that strong regulatory actions, including fines, may follow if lapses are identified.
Future Resilience Measures
Minister of State for Home Affairs, Ms. Sun Xueling, highlighted plans to enhance hotline resiliency. These include evaluating telco diversity to prevent reliance on a single provider for critical emergency services.
The outage prompted discussions about public awareness of alternative emergency contact methods, such as SMS hotlines. Efforts to promote these channels are expected to increase to ensure accessibility during future disruptions.
Conclusion
Singtel, which described the event as an “isolated incident,” faces scrutiny to prevent recurrences. As investigations continue, measures to bolster system reliability and protect critical services are in focus, ensuring minimal disruption in similar scenarios.
