Widespread Vodafone/EE outage is now fixed, networks say

Problem meant that Vodafone users could not call EE numbers – and some people on other networks, too

(Getty Images)

An hours-long outage that left people in the UK unable to call each other has now been resolved, according to the networks involved.

Around lunchtime on Monday, many people found they were unable to make phone calls. Attempting to ring certain numbers just showed the call as failing.

It was initially unclear what the problem was, and who was responsible. Tracking website Down Detector showed issues at a range of UK networks, and indicated that customers across the country were experiencing them.

It soon became clear that the problem affected Vodafone numbers when they tried to call EE numbers. But it also affected people with Vodafone who attempted to call people who ported their number from EE – since the number remains the same, and so EE is still involved in the process, routing those calls to people’s new network.

Vodafone indicated that the problem was with EE. It said that the problem was “an issue with the EE network”, and that the network was seeking to fix it.

EE then said that it was aware of the problem and working to fix it.

Now EE has said that the issue has been resolved, though it gave little information on what happened or whether it might be able to happen again.

It also stressed that the issue only affected calls from Vodafone customers, and that mobile data and text messages had stayed functional throughout the outage.

“The issue impacting some customers’ calls to and from a Vodafone number has been resolved,” a spokesperson said.

“We’re very sorry for any inconvenience caused. Calls to other networks, mobile data and text messages were not affected.”

Customers at some other networks reported problems, including those on O2, which said that users might experience issues when connecting with customers on EE. Those problems were presumably the result of those ported numbers.