Singtel Taps Australian National Broadband Network CEO to Head Optus

By P.R. Venkat

Singapore Telecommunications has appointed Stephen Rue to lead its Australian telecom operations as part of efforts to rebuild the unit's reputation, which suffered because of a network outage that affected millions of its customers.

Rue, who is currently the Chief executive of Australia's National Broadband Network will take office from November this year, Singtel said Monday.

Late last year, an Optus outage left millions of landline customers, including hospitals and government departments, without services. The backlash saw its then-CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin resign, and a global search to replace her was launched.

The Nov. 8 outage stemmed from an Optus systems' response to a software upgrade at its parent company, Singtel.

"We expect Stephen's operational and financial background to lift service standards significantly for the benefit of our customers, " Optus chairman Paul O' Sullivan said.

Write to P.R. Venkat at venkat.pr@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 05, 2024 19:54 ET (23:54 GMT)

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