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Vodafone down: Phone network not working leaving users unable get internet or call

Andrew Griffin
Wednesday 10 January 2024 11:29 GMT
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Vodafone beginning to turn off 3G

Vodafone has stopped working properly, leaving users unable to get on the internet or make calls.

Huge numbers of users reported losing their connection on Wednesday morning.

The network said it was aware of the problem and working to fix it.

“We are aware some customers are experiencing intermittent issues using our network,” a spokesperson told The Independent. “We’re sorry for the inconvenience, our team is working hard to fix the issue and we hope to have it resolved quickly.”

Tracking website Down Detector showed thousands of complaints from users affected by an array of issues. Its data indicated that problems were present right across the UK.

On Twitter, Vodafone were sent a huge number of complaints by customers. It sent them largely the same message, apologising for the problems and encouraging them to get in touch privately.

There did not appear to be any workaround to fix the problems. But some encouraged users to try and force their phone to make calls through WiFi: that can be done by turning off the phone’s network connection, so that calls are forced through the internet rather than it attempting to use its signal from the network.

Unlike outages with broadband and landline, there is no automatic compensation for customers who have problems with their phone network. But regulator Ofcom does advise that customers may be able to ask for refunds when there are particularly deep or long-lasting problems.

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