Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups charged in illegal poker operation tied to Mafia

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Australia on Monday foreshadowed changes to the country's telecommunications industry after a major company’s failure to connect hundreds of emergency calls last week was linked to four deaths. Optus, Australia’s second-largest telecom company, blamed a “technical failure” on Thursday last week for 624 calls failing to connect to emergency services. While Americans call “9-1-1” in an emergency, Australians call “0-0-0.” Someone died in four of those Australian emergencies. Optus was fined more than 12 million Australia dollars ($8 million) for failing to meet emergency call rules during another network outage on Nov. 8, 2023. Telstra, Australia’s largest telecom company, was fined AU$3 million ($2 million) in December last year for failing to comply with emergency call rules during a technical disruption at its “0-0-0” call center. Communications Minister Anika Wells said on Monday the Australian Communications...