Network failure hits EE, BT and affects other UK providers
A software fault in EE’s voice infrastructure led to a major UK-wide outage, placing thousands without call service.
Thousands of EE and BT customers across the UK encountered widespread network failures on 24 July, primarily affecting voice services.
The outage, lasting over 24 hours, disrupted mobile and landline calls. Over 2,600 EE users reported issues with Downdetector at peak volume around 2:15 p.m. BST. Despite repair efforts, residual outages were still being logged the following day.
Although Vodafone and Three initially confirmed their networks were stable, users who recently switched carriers or ported numbers from EE experienced failures when making or receiving calls. However, this suggests cross-network routing issues burdened by EE’s technical fault.
Emergency services were briefly impacted; some users could not reach 999, though voice functionality has resumed. BT and EE apologised and said they were working urgently to restore reliable service.
Given statutory obligations around service resilience, Ofcom has opened inquiries into scale and causes. Affected MVNO operators using EE infrastructure, like 1pMobile, reported customer disruptions.
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