Telstra chief executive Vicki Brady has fronted the media to address the nationwide outage for the first time just hours after returning home from holidays.

Millions of Telstra customers were unable to make calls, access mobile data or use electronic payment systems on Wednesday morning after a technical failure involving timers at the telco’s Sydney and Melbourne data centres. 

Ms Brady was overseas with her family when the country’s biggest telco went into meltdown.

After touching down in Sydney on Friday morning, she went straight to work before she gave a press conference alongside chief financial officer Michael Ackland. 

‘We have let our customers and Australians down and for that I am deeply sorry,’ she said on Friday.

‘I understand how much Australians rely on us to keep in touch, to work, and stay safe. 

‘I also understand the broader impact on the community when services go down from things like payments to transport. It’s extremely frustrating.’

The outage threw public transport into chaos, with all regional train services across Victoria suspended and major rail lines in NSW disrupted by telecommunications faults.

Telstra chief executive Vicki Brady has fronted the media to address the nationwide outage for the first time just hours after returning home from holidays

About 300 Triple Zero calls were impacted by the outage, amid concerns it may have contributed to a death in South Australia that is being investigated by police. 

Ackland revealed on Thursday that Brady booked the first flight home when she became aware of the outage.

‘She immediately changed her plans and she will be back here as soon as as she possibly can,’ he told reporters. 

‘I have been in regular contact with her, as have many members of the team.’

More to come.