Optus makes another catastrophic mistake and three people are dead after letting customers down 'when they needed them most'

Fool me once, shame on you.

Fool me twice, shame on me.

Optus network failure impacted triple-0 calls where three people died Photo shows close up sign of Optus

Optus CEO Stephen Rue confirmed that a technical failure resulted in the failure of triple-0 emergency calls in South Australia, the Northern Territory and Western Australia.

For the second time in two years, telecommunications provider Optus has failed to deliver services to customers.

This time, it's been linked to three deaths.

Optus confirmed late on Friday that a failed network update on Thursday meant some triple-0 calls were made but went unanswered.

Given the vital need for communications services, this is a disaster for the company.

"We now see the devastating human cost of treating telecommunications as just an