A Verizon network outage caused widespread disruptions across the United States on Monday. Customers reported issues from California to New York, with concentrations in cities like Chicago and Phoenix. Verizon acknowledged the problem and initiated immediate recovery efforts.
AT&T has been fined $950,000 by the FCC for failing to deliver over 400 emergency 911 calls during a one-hour outage in August 2023. The incident, affecting multiple states, led to a compliance plan to improve reliability. The FCC continues to scrutinize similar failures, highlighting the importance of maintaining robust emergency call systems.
Countries across East and Southern Africa are grappling with a widespread internet outage caused by faults in several submarine cables. According to Cloudflare Radar, which tracks internet disruptions, Tanzania is among the hardest hit, experiencing a significant drop in internet traffic to only 30% of its normal levels.
In response to the unprecedented outage of the UK’s emergency calling service last summer, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has put forward new measures aimed at bolstering the system’s reliability. These steps are in addition to enhancements already made by BT to its emergency call handling protocols, following a significant disruption that saw 9,641 callers unable to reach emergency services due to a software bug on 25 June.
AT&T’s CEO John Stankey has shed light on the massive service disruption on February 22nd. Revealing an incorrect protocol during network expansion as the cause, Stankey unveiled a testament of resilience. Meanwhile, AT&T plans to apply account credits to the most affected consumers and small businesses. The incident, affecting an estimated 75% of customers, triggered a swift restoration of service, notably prioritizing first responders.
Following an infamous network outage at Optus, CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin chooses to resign, leaving implications of disagreement over the cause behind the outage. The issue originated from a software upgrade in the international peering network, STiX, owned by Singtel – Optus’s parent company, sparking debate on whether it culpable for the interruption.
Ofcom delves into an investigation concerning BT’s recent 999 emergency call service outage. BT’s back-up system reportedly failed in providing efficient location data, intensifying the emergency identification process. This significant service disruption stirred discussions in Parliament, with technology minister Lord Camrose emphasizing the company’s delayed communication to the government about the issue. While BT extended an apology planned a full internal investigation, Ofcom’s survey will spotlight possible breaches of regulatory norms mandating constant network access to emergency organizations. The potential consequences are yet unclear.
TIM, Telefonica and Claro take over Brazil’s Oi mobile assets in $3.2 billion bid On Monday, TIM Participacoes, Telefonica Brasil SA and America Movil SAB de CV’s Claro won an auction to acquire the mobile operations of Brazil’s Oi SA with a joint bid of $3.23 billion. According to the announcement, TIM will be taking over 40% of Oi’s customers (around 14.5 million people), more than half of the company’s spectrum allocation (49 MHz), and 49% of its mobile sites (around 7,200 locations). As a result, it paid the largest portion of the bid, around $1.44 billion. For $1.08 billion, Telefonica is gaining 10.5 million customers, 43 MHz of spectrum, and 2,700 mobile sites. Claro’s $710 million gained the company around 11.6 million customers and 4,700 mobile sites, but no spectrum. TIM, Telefonica and Claro have also offered Oi a long-term contract to rent its telecom infrastructure. Read more at…
