O2 outage: 31m mobile customers unable to get online (opens in new tab)

(theguardian.com)

62 pointsViperus7y ago23 comments

23 comments

I'm seeing references to something Ericsson contributes to their network. It would very interesting to see what went wrong and in particular, what caused the change or deployment to be "un-revertable". My money is on a cascade of issues, some of which were latent and only triggered today.

This is, by far, the worst cell outage I've seen in the UK. There is zero connectivity via O2 in e.g. London, data or otherwise.

[1] https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/o2-network-down-ericss...

martinald7y ago

Due to an expired TLS cert: https://www.ericsson.com/en/press-releases/2018/12/update-on...

noir_lord7y ago

I liked the "limited number of customers" yes that's true, it affect 2-3 companies, it's just that a single one of those companies had 32M customers.

Ouch.

isostatic7y ago

Something that simple, given that full service still hasn't been restored?

setquk7y ago

There was worse on 7/7/2005 in London due to the bombings. Nearly all the providers fell flat due to overload including land lines and mobile phones. Also public transport was hosed. I walked 11 miles home in the end.

FM radio was about the only thing working. Thank you cheap nokia!

I have an iPhone now which is devoid of an FM radio but carry a multiband VHF transceiver with me most of the time now as that can pick up FM and do comms on 2m (I have an amateur radio license as well).

kkarakk7y ago

any links on how to get started in the hobby easily?

1 more reply

dreen7y ago

https://status.o2.co.uk/

> We believe other mobile operators around the world are also affected.

Anyone else affected?

needle07y ago

Softbank, Japan's 3rd largest mobile carrier having around 25% marketshare in the country, had a major outage today as well.

otoburb7y ago

Ouch. Their status page seems to be overloaded, assuming that is the correct URL.

bArray7y ago

Why do so many status pages seem to crash/incorrect report when the service goes down?

Once you get on the page:

    We're really sorry but this system is currently
    experiencing some technical problems.
    Our engineers have been notified, so please check back
    later.

3 more replies

seanhandley7y ago

Loaded eventually for me. Must be getting a huge surge in traffic.

betaby7y ago

Statistically speaking - yes. I realy want to know what O2 had in mind by saying that.

acupofnope7y ago

The issues are in some of Ericsson network software, and they have other customers apparently.

https://www.ericsson.com/en/press-releases/2018/12/update-on...

boyce7y ago

I thought initially it was a local thing like when Vodafone disappeared here because a falcon made a nest on the transmitter

roliver7y ago

University of Southampton?

boyce7y ago

Yup. 2006-2012, still live in Highfield.

enlyth7y ago

I haven't had mobile internet since yesterday evening on O2, and I travel to London for work.

Luckily, there's WiFi at home, at work, and on the trains, so it's not really affecting me too much, but I'd really like to see the postmortem of such a huge outage.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

23 comments

verytrivial7y ago

This is, by far, the worst cell outage I've seen in the UK. There is zero connectivity via O2 in e.g. London, data or otherwise.

[1] https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/o2-network-down-ericss...

martinald7y ago

Due to an expired TLS cert: https://www.ericsson.com/en/press-releases/2018/12/update-on...

noir_lord7y ago

I liked the "limited number of customers" yes that's true, it affect 2-3 companies, it's just that a single one of those companies had 32M customers.

Ouch.

isostatic7y ago

Something that simple, given that full service still hasn't been restored?

setquk7y ago

FM radio was about the only thing working. Thank you cheap nokia!

kkarakk7y ago

any links on how to get started in the hobby easily?

1 more reply

dreen7y ago

https://status.o2.co.uk/

> We believe other mobile operators around the world are also affected.

Anyone else affected?

needle07y ago

Softbank, Japan's 3rd largest mobile carrier having around 25% marketshare in the country, had a major outage today as well.

otoburb7y ago

Ouch. Their status page seems to be overloaded, assuming that is the correct URL.

bArray7y ago

Why do so many status pages seem to crash/incorrect report when the service goes down?

Once you get on the page:

    We're really sorry but this system is currently
    experiencing some technical problems.
    Our engineers have been notified, so please check back
    later.

3 more replies

seanhandley7y ago

Loaded eventually for me. Must be getting a huge surge in traffic.

betaby7y ago

Statistically speaking - yes. I realy want to know what O2 had in mind by saying that.

acupofnope7y ago

The issues are in some of Ericsson network software, and they have other customers apparently.

https://www.ericsson.com/en/press-releases/2018/12/update-on...

boyce7y ago

I thought initially it was a local thing like when Vodafone disappeared here because a falcon made a nest on the transmitter

roliver7y ago

University of Southampton?

boyce7y ago

Yup. 2006-2012, still live in Highfield.

enlyth7y ago

I haven't had mobile internet since yesterday evening on O2, and I travel to London for work.

Luckily, there's WiFi at home, at work, and on the trains, so it's not really affecting me too much, but I'd really like to see the postmortem of such a huge outage.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse