O2 Problem Solved As Network Restores 3G Services

Steve McCaskill,

Network apologises for two-day nationwide outage and says normal service has resumed

O2 claims it has fixed the problems which left many of its customers across the country unable to make or receive calls, send text messages or access data services for nearly 24 hours.

The cause of the O2 problem, which was first reported yesterday afternoon, has not been revealed, but 2G and 3G services are now fixed.

“Following previous updates, our tests now show that all our 2G and 3G services have been fully restored for affected customers,” said O2. “If any customers are still having problems we recommend they turn their phone off and on again. Once again, we are sorry.”

O2 Sorry

O2 customers have reported on Twitter that service has been restored and the CEO of the company, Ronan Dunne, also used the social network to offer a personal apology for the problems.

“To all our affected customers – I’m very sorry,” he said. “The network is back. My focus now is restoring your confidence and trust in O2,”

The only explanation given for the problems so far is that it was caused by a “fault with one of our network systems,” although O2 engineers have worked through the night to resolve the situation, which has also affected MNVO Tesco Mobile, which uses O2’s network.

 

2G services were restored this morning, meaning that at least customers could make calls and send texts. This is the second service outage suffered by subscribers in a matter of weeks, after many were unable to send texts during an incident last month.

“To have an entire network down is a poor show for the company, and does not bode well for an operator who plans to deliver 4G services in a year’s time,” said Askar Sheibani, CEO of network equipment reseller Comtek. “Mobile phones are an increasingly essential part of day-to-day life for consumers and businesses alike, and incidents such as this are simply unacceptable.  This failure to deliver basic 2G and 3G services indicates that O2 may have taken its eye off the ball – ignoring the maintenance of its existing service in the rush to deliver 4G.”

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