One talkback radio listener noticed the initial indication of trouble with Australia’s second-largest internet service provider, Optus, when her cat’s Wi-Fi-enabled food dispenser failed to serve breakfast at 6:10 a.m., leading to her pet waking her up.

For Chris Rogers, a disability pensioner coping with a knee injury that hinders his ability to work, the issue became evident during a 30-minute drive to the pharmacy when his electronic prescription couldn’t be processed.

Rogers, who was at the pharmacy, explained to Reuters that due to the service outage, the prescription wouldn’t load. He mentioned that reception was extremely congested and expressed amazement at the level of chaos, saying he had never witnessed anything like it before.

For countless Australians who were unable to make payments, schedule rides, access medical services, or even place phone calls during a near-complete nine-hour service disruption by the company responsible for 40% of the nation’s internet, it served as a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities associated with a society that has heavily transitioned to online dependency.

Over the period of three years leading up to 2022, the use of cash transactions in Australia decreased by...


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