Three mobile network hit by outage affecting phone calls

Key points

• Three confirms issue affecting voice services across the UK
  
• Data services such as 4G and 5G are operating normally
  
• Over 9,000 users reported problems on outage tracker
  
• Customers on partner networks like ID Mobile and Smarty also affected
  
• Vodafone services remain unaffected
  

Phone call issues reported on Three network

Mobile network provider Three has confirmed an ongoing issue affecting voice calls for some of its customers across the UK. The company acknowledged the problem in a post on X (formerly Twitter), stating there is “an issue affecting voice services”.

Three has not confirmed how many of its 11 million UK customers are affected. However, the outage tracker DownDetector reported over 9,000 user complaints around 09:30 BST on Wednesday.

Data still working, partner networks impacted

While phone calls are disrupted, 4G and 5G data services remain unaffected, according to Three. However, mobile providers that use Three’s infrastructure are also experiencing issues.

ID Mobile noted on its website that technical teams are working with Three to resolve the disruption. Smarty also confirmed awareness of the issue and is actively seeking a solution.

Vodafone, which recently merged with Three to form the UK’s largest mobile network, confirmed its own services are operating as normal.

Customer concerns on social media

Several affected customers have taken to social media to express frustration, citing missed emergency calls from hospitals and difficulty reaching breakdown services.

Some users also claimed they had lost data access, although Three maintains that data connectivity is working as expected.

This incident follows a previous outage in January, when Three launched an investigation after a small number of users were reportedly unable to contact emergency services via 999.