Optus goes down on Mardi Gras event

A failure to prepare for the massive traffic levels around Victoria Park for the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras' annual Fair Day on Sunday left Optus customers at the event with minimal coverage.

(Pride Flag image by BluEyedA73, CC2.0)

Organisers New Mardi Gras said a record 70,000 people visited the park located just near Sydney University and Broadway Shopping Centre in Camperdown for the annual Fair Day event containing markets, live music, shows and bars.

ZDNet Australia spoke to a number of Optus customers on the day who complained they were unable to make phone calls, send text messages or access the internet through their Optus service, while a number of users also took to Twitter to raise complaints.

"Optus reception was non-existent at fair day @Optus same as last year," said one Twitter user.

Optus apologised to customers, saying that a failure to plan for the extra traffic in the area had caused the network to suffer.

"Due to a planning error, Optus' normal special events parameters were not set up to include expanded capacity for its site at Victoria Park," Optus said in a statement. "Optus would like to apologise to its customers and will work with the Fair Day organisers to ensure that this does not happen again."

Optus did not have a stall on the site; however, Telstra was present, offering punters the chance to have their photo taken with Olympic gold medal-winning diver Matthew Mitcham.