Optus outage sparks anger among business owners as bosses are forced to close up shop while millions of Aussies remain in the dark

Business owners across Australia have expressed outrage as a massive Optus outage leaves the country in chaos.

Optus is experiencing one of the largest outages in Australia’s history, affecting millions of customers, hospitals and businesses.

The outage was first reported at 4am on Wednesday, with Optus mobile users saying they were unable to make calls or send texts as the internet network and home broadband were also down.

Optus users in Brisbane, Perth, Sydney, Melbourne, the ACT, Tasmania and Adelaide have all reported blackouts with the network.

Business owners across the country have run into problems after the outage and have expressed their frustrations online.

Several banks have reported some administrative issues, while smaller businesses have been unable to communicate with their customers, forcing some to close.

The Whyalla Central Deli in remote South Australia sent a message to customers.

“Sorry guys… Optus is doing its normal, and the phone line is not working at the moment,” they said.

Urban Dragonfly Espresso Bar in Bundaberg also warned customers to prepare for changed circumstances.

‘Good morning! Looks like Optus is out! So if you use Optus we will not receive your SMS pre-orders. Please come in and we will put you in touch,” they wrote.

Mt Druitt service center ANZCO Automotive told its customers it would likely close shop for the day.

‘We are not active for the time being. Due to this malfunction, our entire system does not work,” entrepreneurs said.

Stewy the Snake Catcher on the Gold Coast told his followers online that he had been affected by the widespread outage.

“We are aware of a major outage on the Optus network, and I myself am with Optus,” he wrote.

‘We apologize in advance if you are trying to reach us this morning and are having trouble. Hopefully they will solve the problem as soon as possible.”

Adelaide cafes Argo on the Sqaure and Delish were forced to put up signs informing customers of cash-only transactions.

“Our small business will be without revenue as long as this outage continues,” one business owner commented on Facebook.

‘We have a trade customer who I’m sure is trying to call but can’t get through. Very disturbing, especially because it is our quiet period, so every purchase counts for us.’

While another said: ‘Yes. I can’t use maps to find customers’ homes, can’t use banking to buy stuff, can’t let my customers know I’m even going to be late.”

Some court proceedings have been postponed due to the outage.

Just before 6 a.m. there were almost 9,000 reports of outages at Optus.

Melbourne’s train network was also closed earlier on Wednesday, leaving many commuters stranded.

It is believed this was a result of the Optus outage. Metro Trains has since confirmed services have resumed, but major delays are expected.

Optus said it was aware of issues affecting some customers but had not yet explained the system outage.

“Optus is aware of an issue that may be impacting some of our mobile and internet customers,” a spokesperson said.

‘We are currently working to determine the cause and apologize for any inconvenience caused.

‘In case of emergency, customers can still call 000.’

EFTM technology expert Trevor Long said it was Australia’s “largest telecoms outage”.

“To have mobile broadband and home broadband out at the same time means that if you are an Optus family, you will have no communications this morning,” he told 2GB.

‘There is literally no way to communicate if Optus’s only communication in your home is through your broadband and home mobile phone, which would certainly be a large proportion of those customers.’

Optus has 10.2 million users across the country.