Samsung phones with firmware settings that stop them making emergency calls are poised to grow in number with iTnews now able to confirm that the software problem went undetected by TPG Telecom for over a year.
TPG Telecom has consistently said that it has known about emergency calling problems with the Samsung handsets – particular for VoLTE emergency calls – since 2024, starting during the lead up to the 3G network shutdown.
It has also said it has continuously notified other carriers and customers about emergency calling problems with the phones ever since.
However, iTnews has learned that the issue that TPG Telecom identified in its warnings was entirely different to the firmware-related problem Telstra discovered during more recent testing.
Sources familiar with the events said that the issue TPG Telecom raised with other carriers in the lead up to the 3G shutdown was only expected to affect Vodafone mobile network users.
The problem Telstra identified, the sources said, had implications for customers of all mobile operators using the affected phones.
Some handsets, it appears, will be left inoperable because the settings are hardcoded in the devices.
TPG Telecom did not have any knowledge of the firmware problem until Telstra started notifying other carriers about it about two weeks ago, iTnews understands.
As soon as Telstra discovered the firmware issue, both it and its nearest commercial rival, Optus, announced that they would block affected handsets unless they could be patched or otherwise fixed within 28 days.
Sources familiar with the testing told iTnews that standard mobile tests cannot reliably detect the firmware issue in all cases and that Telstra only discovered it after using advanced procedures.
More devices identified
The tally of Samsung mobiles with the firmware problem currently stands at 71 and growing, 11 of which are believed to belong to older Samsung mobile product series that use software technology that can’t be patched or updated.
TPG Telecom has confirmed to iTnews that more Samsung handsets with the problem are starting to come to light.
“We have since received updated advice from Samsung that allowed us to identify a small number of additional devices requiring either a software update or replacement to ensure emergency call compatibility,” a TPG Telecom spokesperson said.
The new developments could mean carriers are underestimating the number of Samsung models that need to be fixed or discarded. By how much is unclear.
However, with the cream of the telco industry’s top executives and other stakeholders set to be hauled before a parliamentary inquiry to be grilled about the sector’s flagging triple zero service performance on Monday, any amount is going to look bad.
A “highly irregular” firmware configuration
The committee will have to navigate some tough and thorny technical terrain on its journey to make sense of the telco industry’s triple zero failures to reach findings.
This will be no less true in the case of the Samsung handsets.
When operating correctly and in accordance industry standards, mobile handsets should automatically seek out alternative mobile service when their home networks are unavailable. The process is known among mobile network engineers as “camp on”.
However, the firmware in the faulty Samsung handsets locks them to Vodafone’s shuttered 3G network, leaving them unable to switch and place emergency calls whenever Optus and Telstra’s mobile networks are down or out of range.
In a statement to iTnews last week, Telstra described firmware as being “specifically configured” to exclusively use the now retired 3G network.
Sources familiar with the technical dimensions of the problem described the firmware configuration as “highly irregular” and even “unheard of” in mobile engineering circles.
“Why this was configured this way is a question for Samsung and Vodafone,” a Telstra spokesperson told iTnews at the time.
iTnews put the question to Samsung last week. The handset maker did not respond to our request for comment then and it hasn’t since.
Under Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) and Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards for mobile phone systems, carriers and manufacturers are required to ensure that individuals in distress can easily make emergency mobile calls whenever and wherever network service is available.
Sources familiar with TPG Telecom’s phone procurement practices told iTnews that the telco doesn’t require its suppliers to hardcode mobile handsets to behave in customised ways when interacting with mobile networks.
Furthermore, TPG didn’t make such a request in the case of the Samsung handsets, the sources said.
Who knew and when did they know?
Until now, it has been difficult to resolve inconsistencies in the carriers’ versions of exactly what they knew about the firmware problem with the handsets and when.
Claims and counter claims seen by iTnews about the handsets proceeded apace until reaching a non-sensical peak late last week.
TPG and Telstra stood firmly behind contradictory accounts of what they knew about the issue and when they started sharing it with other carriers.
Telstra said that it was not aware of the issue with the Samsung handsets until shortly before it announced its policy to block them.
However, TPG Telecom also restated the thrust of its position on the issue, repeating that it had been warning other carriers of “a cohort of older Samsung devices” unable to make triple zero calls on its Vodafone-branded network since at least 2024.
After making additional enquiries, TPG Telecom confirmed for iTnews that Telstra was correct in asserting that it did not know about the firmware problem until it’s rival conducted its own tests.
However, TPG then seemed to immediately contradict itself, telling iTnews that the handsets “would have been included” in the list of “bad devices” that it distributed in lead up to the 3G network shutdown.
“[It’s] up to them what they do with that information,” a TPG Telecom spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for Optus also told iTnews that the issue was new.
“While Optus has previously taken extensive action to ensure emergency call compliance, this [firmware] issue related to a newly identified issue affecting a specific group of older Samsung devices in rare circumstances,” the carrier’s spokesperson said.
Telstra only discovered the problem after a Vodafone customer reported being unable to make emergency calls on its network using a Samsung handset, despite the model not otherwise being flagged as problematic.
It’s not known whether Samsung engineering is currently carrying out further tests to find more impacted handsets but, by its statements, TPG Telecom has confirmed that, at the very least, the handset maker is taking a more active role in trying to address the problem,
However, the uncertainty around the extent of the handset firmware problem, along with TPG Telecom’s confirmation that Samsung has discovered more impacted handsets than previously reported, can only add to the sector’s recent triple zero image problems.
Optus faces tough questions
Optus’ triple zero outage in September, which was later linked to at least three fatalities and follows a regular pattern of emergency call failures across carriers’ networks in recent years, has strained the telco industry’s relationship with the public and Canberra.
Starting Monday, Optus and other senior industry executives will start to appear before the Senate’s environment and communications committee to answer questions about the outage, and the sector’s worrying record of triple zero service failures.
Optus will be asked to explain why about 600 emergency calls failed to get through to first responders on September 18.
It may also be required to explain why it initially appeared to play down the severity of the outage and the reasons it took a full day before federal government officials were disabused of that illusion.
The inquiry’s terms of reference also require the committee to explore the cause of the outage and names inter-carrier camp on arrangements as a topic of particular concern.
More rules
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has already announced tighter triple zero testing rules for mobile phones. Optus and Telstra wasted no time formulating a response to the regulator’s move, announcing their plans to block the misbehaving Samsung handsets the next day.
ACMA’s new rules will specifically require carriers to subject handsets to special tests designed to see how they perform when they have to switch networks to place emergency calls.
The regulator will also require carriers to test how well their handsets’ triple zero calling features perform when mobile base stations experience outages and power down their signals – a situation that also puts the handsets’ camp on performance under stress.
ACMA said the new rules were a response to the third recommendation (of 18) to emerge from the federal government review of the Optus November 2023 network outage. The government released those recommendations 19 months ago, in March 2024.
The regulator has also hand-picked a new testing provider – a new authority created under the aegis of University of Technology, National Telecommunications Resilience Centre (NTRC) Sydney – which was also set up in response to the review.
Also, the Labor government late last week passed new triple zero telecommunications laws intended to make it easier for the government to ensure emergency call services run reliably.
The laws create a new role in the Department of Infrastructure, Transport and Communications for a “triple zero custodian” with powers to directly intervene in the telecommunications industry in a bid to shore up emergency call service reliability.
Labor also drew on the findings of the November 2023 outage review when drafting those laws.
“With these new powers for the Triple Zero Custodian, there will more active and effective monitoring [to] make sure this vital service meets their needs,” Communications Minister Anika Wells said at the time.
The triple zero inquiry will continue to accept submissions until late November and is due to report its findings early next February.
