O2 mobile phone network down across the UK leaving users unable to make calls

5 May 2020, 14:25

Mobile phone network O2 went down on Tuesday afternoon
Mobile phone network O2 went down on Tuesday afternoon. Picture: PA

By Megan White

Mobile phone network O2 went down across the UK on Tuesday, with thousands of Brits left unable to make calls amid the outage.

Texts and online data were not affected by the "technical issue," but users were unable to make calls, despite phones showing that signal is available.

The problem was resolved around 3.30pm. An O2 spokesperson said: "The incident which impacted some voice calls earlier today has now been resolved and we are seeing service levels return to normal.

"Our technical teams are continuing to monitor the situation. We apologise for any inconvenience."

Problems began around 11.30am, according to Down Detector, which records complaints reported by consumers.

Down Detector showed there were problems being reported across the UK
Down Detector showed there were problems being reported across the UK. Picture: Down Detector

In a statement on their website, O2 said: "We’re aware of an issue which might be affecting some customers making and receiving voice calls.

"Our technical teams are investigating. Data and text messages are not impacted.

"We apologise for any inconvenience."

Dozens of angry customers complained to the network on social media, saying they had missed important calls because of the outage.

One Twitter user said: "I can’t make any calls or receive them. I’ve missed a doctors appointment because of this. As a vulnerable person, I kinda need a working phone during the pandemic."

Another wrote: "Anyone else having issues with O2? I’ve just missed a consultant appointment because he couldn’t get through to my phone. Now see that O2 are having technical problems. Are they also compensating the NHS for missed appointments?"