Three Apologizes for Network Outage Affecting Voice Services

Mobile Carrier Blames "Technical Difficulties" for Widespread Disruptions

LONDON – Three, one of the UK’s largest mobile network operators, issued an apology on Tuesday for a major service outage that left thousands of customers unable to make or receive voice calls. The company blamed the disruption on unspecified "technical difficulties" with its network Infrastructure.

"We are aware of an issue affecting around 3% of voice calls," Three said in a statement posted on its website. "Our engineers are working to fix this ASAP and we expect it to be resolved soon. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused."

Customers Vent Frustration on Social Media as Outage Drags On

As the outage stretched into its second hour, angry customers took to Twitter and other social media platforms to vent their frustration. "Can’t make or receive any calls on @ThreeUK for over an hour now," tweeted Jane Simmons, 37, a graphic designer from Manchester. "Completely unacceptable in this day and age. Where’s the backup plan?"

Others complained about missed business opportunities and lost revenue due to the service disruption. "I run a small catering company and rely on my mobile to take orders," said Rajesh Patel, 42, of Birmingham. "This outage has already cost me £500 in missed bookings. Three better have a good explanation."

Network Restored After Nearly Three Hours of Downtime

At around 2:30 PM GMT, nearly three hours after the first reports of issues began flooding in, Three announced that voice services had been fully restored across its network. The company did not provide any additional details on the cause of the outage or the specific steps taken to resolve it.

Industry analysts estimate that the service disruption may have affected upwards of 500,000 Three customers across the UK. With over 10 million subscribers, Three controls roughly 13% of the British mobile market, trailing rivals EE and O2.

Ofcom Launches Inquiry, Three Vows to "Make Things Right"

In the wake of the incident, UK telecoms regulator ofcom announced that it had opened an inquiry into Three’s network resilience and disaster recovery protocols. "We take the reliability and security of the UK’s mobile networks very seriously," an Ofcom spokesperson said. "We will be engaging with Three to understand the root cause of this outage and ensure appropriate measures are put in place to prevent future occurrences."

For its part, Three pledged to "make things right" for affected customers, though it did not specify what form any compensation might take. In a similar incident last year, rival operator O2 offered customers up to two day’s worth of free airtime following a major data outage.

Pressure Mounts for Increased Infrastructure Investment

The Three outage is just the latest in a string of high-profile service disruptions to hit the UK’s mobile carriers in recent years. In 2018, O2 suffered a massive data outage that left over 30 million customers without 4G access for nearly 24 hours. And in 2019, EE experienced a similar voice service outage that affected calls for several hours.

These repeated failures have led to increased pressure on mobile operators to boost investment in network infrastructure and redundancy measures. A 2020 report by the UK’s National Infrastructure Commission called for a minimum of £40 billion in new spending to shore up the country’s mobile and broadband networks over the next decade.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored just how vital reliable connectivity is to our economy and society," the report said. "We simply cannot afford to fall behind as the world races to build next-generation networks. The time to act is now."

As Three picks up the pieces from its latest outage, that message is sure to resonate with customers and regulators alike. The question now is whether the UK’s mobile operators will rise to the challenge – or risk being left behind in an increasingly digital world.