Three UK is down — live updates on the outage

Three weighs in

ThreeUK has posted an update to its X account where it's acknowledging "an ongoing issue affecting a small percentage of voice services." The company adds that data services are unaffected.

Regulator weighs in

In its report on the Three UK outage, the BBC has spoken to regulator Ofcom and gotten a statement:

"We are aware that Three is experiencing problems with its network. We are in contact with Three to establish the scale and cause of the problem as soon as possible."

The BBC also reports that it's not known if Three UK customers will be able to claim compensation for the outage.

Current status: uptick in outages

Looking on DownDetector, the picture ain't pretty. There's signs of an uptick beginning in network disruptions again, which we're seeing impact both traditional phone calls and WiFi calling.

On top of this, we're seeing some posts from frustrated users that paint more of this picture on what happened and when it started.

Turns out it may not have started at just 1:05pm GMT as indicated. It could have started earlier from midday.

Probably most frustrating to users now is the lack of communication — especially given that the live support service doesn't seem to be responding. People are being told to respond within business hours, even though it's still within said business hours, looking at this screenshot.

Three's Status Checker is down again

Remember when I said the Coverage and status checker was back? Well, I may have spoken too soon. This is down again.

Phone calls still not working, but text messages working now?

We're seeing some movement in terms of what is and isn't available. Heather Hoy just posted a comment underneath Three UK's outage page on DownDetector with the following:

"I cannot make phone calls, but I am getting text messages. I was alerted by text earlier to a new voicemail too at 14.19pm this afternoon, and when I called Three voicemail, there was only silence. No automated voice, nothing. There were also no notifications for a new call before the text from Three arrived either, so I suspect that nobody is able to call me either."

We're also seeing some additional info that WiFi calling isn't working as well.

Uswitch expert: Three's outage "incredibly frustrating"

Uswitch mobiles expert Simrat Sharma has weighed in with more thoughts and some good advice too!

"Three’s reported outages will be incredibly frustrating for customers... As SMARTY and iD Mobile also use Three’s network, it’s likely customers on these networks may be experiencing issues with their service too," she commented.

On top of this, Sharma also provided some advice for customers affected.

“Ofcom advises that compensation for mobile signal outages is ‘dependent on the circumstances’, however in extreme cases where repairs take much longer you may be entitled to an additional refund or account credit.

We'll keep an eye on how long this outage lasts, and keep you posted on whether there is a claim to Ofcom here!

Signs of optimism

In good news, the outage report graph is starting to decline gradually over time on DownDetector.

While I won't say we're out of the woods yet, it is a sign to be optimistic that maybe the disruption is on its way to being resolved.

Are EE, O2 and Vodafone customers affected too?

We already know that Three UK, ID Mobile and Smarty (two subsidiaries that operate on Three's network) are down. But we're seeing growing reports for EE, O2 and Vodafone disruptions as well — according to DownDetector.

I'm starting to suspect this might be bigger than we first thought...

Video proof: 999 calls are not possible on Three UK network

@tomsguide

♬ memories - leadwave

For context, we tested this call from our office in Paddington, London.

Please note — this was a quick test we did to check the accuracy of claims being made on X by Three UK customers. It is not recommended to ring 999 unnecessarily!

Tested: 999 calls are not possible

We've reached out to Three for comment, and this is the company's response:

“We are aware of an issue affecting a small percentage of voice services and are working hard to fix it. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused. Data services and 999 calls are unaffected, please bear with us.”

However, we tested this ourselves and can confirm that 999 calls are not being connected. We press the "call" button and there isn't a ringing tone or anything. Stand by for video proof

People can't call 999!?

Looking through Three's support X account, we're seeing lots of customers reaching out about the outage, but this one is particularly alarming.

I'm currently in the process of contacting Three for a response.

Three's status checker is up again

One of the more humorous points of this whole outage was that Three's network status checker was down too.

Good news though! It's live again and Three is also sharing a little more detail on some of the wider impact too. "This issue is impacting some of our self-service options."

The outage is very much on-going, as you can see the peak continuing. The most reported locations span across the entirety of the UK:

• Manchester
• Liverpool
• Leeds
• Glasgow
• Nottingham
• Hackney
• London
• Birmingham
• Islington

Three UK are investigating

Currently, Three UK have acknowledged there is an outage and are "working hard to fix this as soon as possible." No additional details are known on the cause of it, but we'll update this when we know more.