Two senior executives at Optus will depart from the company following a significant outage of the triple-zero emergency service last month. The telecommunications provider announced today that Chief Financial Officer Michael Venter and Chief Information Officer Mark Potter will leave their positions early next year.

Venter, who previously served as interim CEO, will be succeeded by Andy Giles Knopp, the current CFO at Aussie Broadband. John McInerney, who is the CIO and head of transformation at One New Zealand, will take over for Potter.

Optus stated that Potter decided it was the "right time for him to leave" after establishing strong technology foundations for the company's ongoing transformation. This announcement comes just over a month after a 13-hour outage of the triple-zero service, which left over 600 emergency calls unable to connect due to a failed network upgrade. The outage has been linked to three fatalities.

The company, which ranks as Australia's second-largest telecommunications provider after Telstra, has faced significant backlash regarding its response to the outage. Criticism has come from various quarters, including government officials who noted that Optus failed to send notifications about the issue to the correct email address. A Senate inquiry into the outage is scheduled for next week.

In the announcement regarding Venter and Potter's departures, Optus did not reference the triple-zero outage. Chief Executive Stephen Rue expressed gratitude towards Venter, stating, "Michael has decided to retire from executive life to pursue a portfolio career, and I wish to thank him for his significant contribution to Optus over the past four years, including the time he spent as interim CEO before I joined the company."

Rue also welcomed Knopp, emphasizing his leadership and financial expertise as crucial for the company's focus on connectivity and transformation. Regarding Potter, Rue mentioned that his departure followed "long-term and open discussions" and wished him well in his future endeavors.

Both Venter and Potter are set to leave Optus in March 2024. Knopp will join the company the following month, while McInerney is expected to start in November 2023.