Telstra's Record(s) Blunder

March 14, 2006: A report in The Australian claims that Australia's primary telco, Telstra, has half a million incorrect user records entered into its emergency number database.

By Royston Flavell

The article, by Michael Sainsbury, based on leaked internal Telstra documents dealing with the state of the 000 ('triple-0') database, details among other polluted data: incorrect phone number prefixes and wrong postcodes.

Industry sources speaking to IDM have made it clear that the average client information database contains up to 30% of redundant or incorrect information. However, the fact that Australia's primary provider of telecommunications services, has 500,000 incorrect records within its emergency services system is more than a data management issue; it could result in tragedy as ambulances, fire services and police are directed to the wrong locations.

And the problem doesn't stop with the emergency services. Sainsbury further claims that 28% of all the numbers on Telstra's databases relating fixed-line clients are 'unusable' containing incorrect or plain obsolete information.

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