Optus chief executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin has quit after her appearance at the recent Senate inquiry into the crash of the Optus network that left 10 million people stranded without connectivity.
Parent company Singtel who is also to blame for the crash, announced the departure this morning, with chief financial officer Michael Venter stepping up to the role.
What’s known is how many of her advisors in particular communication staff will also go, as the network looks to salvage their reputation in the marketplace.
ChannelNews tipped her exit despite some observers claiming that she would “hang on in there because she was protecting Singtel executives” the ultimate owners of the network.
Her appearance at Friday’s Senate inquiry into the outage that caused chaos for customers, appears to have been the last straw for Singtel management.
Under her management she oversaw the refunding of millions because of a network failure during the Men’s World Cup, she was also in the hot seat when the network was hacked in 2022 and then there was last week’s network outage.
At this stage it’s not known if network CEO Lambo Kanagaratnam will survive as Singtel move into damage control mode.
Optus
Last week he admitted to the Senate Inquiry that Optus and Singtel had never performed a full outage rehearsal.
“On Friday I had the opportunity to appear before the Senate to expand on the cause of the network outage and how Optus recovered and responded,” Ms Bayer Rosmarin said in a statement.
“I was also able to communicate Optus’ commitment to restore trust and continue to serve customers. Having now had time for some personal reflection, I have come to the decision that my resignation is in the best interest of Optus moving forward.
“It’s been an honour and privilege to lead the team at Optus and to serve our customers. I am proud of the team’s many achievements, and grateful for the support of the Optus team, [Singtel Group CEO Yuen Kuan] Moon, and the Group.
I wish everyone and the company every success in the future.”
Mr Moon said he recognised the need for Optus to regain customer trust and confidence.
“As the team works through the impact and consequences of the recent outage and continues to improve, Optus’ priority is about setting on a path of renewal for the benefit of the community and customers,” he said.
More to come.
