Thu, 24 Jul 2025

Thu, 24 Jul 2025 EE and BT network outage resolved, firm says

The government says "EE and BT digital voice calls to 999 have now been restored."
A major network outage affecting EE and BT customers has been resolved, according to a spokesperson. The outage, which occurred on Thursday, caused thousands of customers to be unable to make or receive calls, including 999 emergency calls. However, some customers reported issues with making 999 calls, but the government confirmed that these had now been restored. A BT spokesperson apologized for the outage and stated that it had "resolved the problem and the service is running as normal." The issue was caused by a technical fault impacting voice services on their network earlier in the day. Over 2,500 EE customers were affected at one point, with many also reporting issues with other networks. Vodafone and Three confirmed they did not have any network issues. The outage tracker Downdetector showed that other networks had seen spikes in reports of outages, but these were likely due to customers from networks unable to connect to EE or BT phone numbers. A customer service phone line for EE and BT was down for much of Thursday afternoon, causing frustration among some customers who needed assistance with urgent issues. The UK communications regulator Ofcom is investigating the cause of the outage and its impact on customers. Mobile network expert Ernest Doku from Uswitch said that mobile networks and landlines are vital for reaching essential services, and it's essential for customers to be reconnected as soon as possible. Customers who experience outages may be entitled to compensation if their landline is not fixed within two days. Some smaller mobile phone operators which "piggyback" on EE's network also reported issues with a small number of customers. The outage has raised concerns about the reliability of BT and EE's services, particularly in rural areas where alternative options are limited.
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