The CEO of Optus has tendered her resignation as the fallout from the company’s massive network outage continues.
Kelly Bayer Rosmarin’s position had been under pressure following the outage two weeks ago that left over 10 million customers and without phone or internet services for up to 16 hours.
On Friday, she dodged questions about whether she intended to resign from her role during a fiery two-hour Senate hearing into the network drama.
On Monday, parent company Singtel confirmed she had stepped down.
“On Friday I had the opportunity to appear before the Senate to expand on the cause of the network outage and how Optus recovered and responded. I was also able to communicate Optus’ commitment to restore trust and continue to serve customers. Having now had time for some personal reflection, I have come to the decision that my resignation is in the best interest of Optus moving forward,” Ms Bayer Rosmarin said.
“It’s been an honour and privilege to lead the team at Optus and to serve our customers. I am proud of the team’s many achievements, and grateful for the support of the Optus team, Moon, and the Group. I wish everyone and the company every success in the future.”
Singtel Group CEO Yuen Kuan Moon praised Ms Bayer Rosmarin’s time in charge.
“Optus appointed Kelly at the beginning of the pandemic, and we acknowledge her leadership, commitment and hard work throughout what has been a challenging period and thank her for her dedication and service to Optus,” he said.
“Kelly has always led with integrity and had all stakeholders’ best interests at heart. We understand her decision and wish her the very best in her future endeavours.”
Chief Financial Officer Michael Venter will assume the role of interim CEO as a global search begins for a new leader.
