Singtel is considering selling a minority stake in Australian telecoms operator Optus.

The company announced in a stock exchange filing that it's open to taking on a minority partner in its Australian subsidiary.

Singaporean telco Singtel acquired Optus back in 2001, and has fully owned the subsidiary throughout that time.

In the company's filing, Singtel noted that the company "is open to working with potential Australian partners that align with its objectives of ensuring that Optus continues to be a strong alternative operator in the industry."

Singtel reiterated in the filing that it was hoping to find a long-term local partner, "owning a meaningful minority stake in Optus."

"Optus has been an integral and strategic part of the Singtel Group for over 25 years, and the Group is committed to Australia for the long term. The Group’s focus there continues to be on working closely with the Optus Board and management to strengthen Optus’ operational capabilities and resilience, and enhance its role as a critical services provider," said Singtel.

The announcement comes after Optus posted its financial results for 2025-2026, during which the carrier suffered multiple Triple Zero outages.

Optus grew its operating revenue to AU$8.3 billion (US$5.9bn) for the year, an increase of 2.1 percent.

However, parent company Singtel acknowledged that Optus posted an “exceptional loss, arising from provisions made for regulatory and remediation expenses and costs related to the retail store buyback." In total, this cost Optus AU$400 million (US$286m).

The carrier suffered a significant Triple Zero outage in September, during which four people died, while it's estimated that 600 customers were potentially impacted. Triple Zero (000) is Australia's main emergency service phone number.

It wasn't the first time Optus has suffered a significant outage that has impacted Triple Zero services. A year earlier, the carrier was slapped with an AU$12 million ($7.93m) fine for an outage in 2023. The outage, which happened on November 8, 2023, lasted more than 14 hours.

CEO Stephen Rue noted this week that the company has made efforts to ensure such outages don't happen again.

The company said it has expanded automated call testing to help ensure our Triple Zero (000) is working 24/7. On top of this, it has created a dedicated team to monitor its Triple Zero (000) service 24/7, and has launched a direct escalation process between customer service staff and this dedicated team to identify issues faster.

"The Board accepted all 21 recommendations, and implementation is well underway, with changes focused on strengthening resilience, transparency, and accountability across the network and operations, and better customer outcomes," said Rue.

“We will continue to take action and drive change across the business to strengthen our network, enhance resilience, reliability, and security, and deliver better outcomes and experiences for our customers.”