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Orange data outage caused by technology fails

Hardware and software problems were at the route of a data network outage affecting Orange customers this week.

By Tom Brewster, 20 Aug 2010 at 10:58

A number of Orange customers were left without data services yesterday after an “unusual” software problem combined with a hardware failure.

This affected a “small number” of APNs, in turn leaving some customers unable to access the internet, a company spokesperson said.

Many were left concerned, as initially Orange had given no timeframe for how long it would take to fix the problem, but now the communications giant has confirmed service is “fully restored.”

“We'll continue to monitor network performance closely and would like to apologise once again for any inconvenience caused,” the spokesperson told IT PRO.

At the time of publication, Orange had not explained what the precise software and hardware issues were.

Once the problems had started, some affected customers had opted to use 2G rather than 3G services, although others were left completely without mobile internet, according to reports.

Earlier this year, an Orange advert claiming the provider’s 3G network covered “more people in the UK than any other operator” was banned.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) deemed the ad was misleading after 3’s parent company Hutchison 3G UK put in a complaint, saying its operator actually had the largest network when it came to population.

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1 comments

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Infrastructure Disgrace

Orange's data problems shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. The data infrastructure in the UK is being pushed to its limits, not just mobile phone networks but landline broadband too. Service providers are trying to manage data by scrimping whilst media companies are encouraging the general public to be part of the media rich revolution. Not that long ago, large bandwidth users were business users and a small minority of the general public - now that the likes of the BBC, YouTube, iTunes etc, etc,has captured the public's imagination, data requirements have rocketed leaving service providers panicking and wondering when the demand is going to level off. It's not going to level off, the demand will just keep escalating and they're always going to be in catchup mode. Consumers are using their mobile devices to listen to the radio, stream video and share media rich content which is in stark contrast to the meagre data requirements of text messaging which has let mobile phone providers 'off the hook' for such a long time now.

With the advent of HD and 3D, the problem is going to get worse as the public demand more from their mobile connections and landlines. But it shouldn't be seen as a 'problem' - it's only a problem for the service providers who are reluctant to accept the challenge and provide services fit for the purpose of modern life. Recently O2 have reduced their monthly bandwith to mobile contract holders by 50%. That's a total disgrace - what they should be announcing is that they've doubled the bandwidth allocation to their customers. All data providers have to get real and embrace the future and, rather than lag behind and limit the possibilities they should lead the way and encourage us to be media rich in our communications and creativity.
The future looks bleak and certainly not Orange or O2 for that matter.

Steve

By willacyman on Tuesday Aug 24