Three network down – Thousands of 3 mobile users vent fury after being unable to make calls or go online for hours
TENS of thousands of Three UK mobile phone customers were hit by a network meltdown today.
Phone users took to Twitter to say they had been left with no signal and were unable to access the internet on their phones or make calls since last night.
Customers raged that they were unable to use 4G, with a map showing thousands of Three mobile users experiencing problems from midnight.
Three apologised for the chaos and say they are "working on the issue", with more than 9,000 customers without coverage from 8am.
It is advising customers to switch their phones off and on again to try and fix the problem and hopes that the service will return to normal by the end of the day.
Three Mobile confirmed at 4.30pm that the "majority" of customers' services were restored.
But workers, including taxi drivers, have blasted the company and said the outage will slash their earnings.
It comes less than a year after nearly 25 million 02 customers were hit by a 4G network meltdown, causing mayhem for phone users across Britain.
Three hasn't specified what has caused the outage, which isn't uncommon as the reason is often considered market sensitive.
Anything from a software glitch to a faulty mast can cause havoc for some mobile users.
You will need to give your provider a "reasonable opportunity" to fix the issue before escalating your concerns though.
Where repairs take much longer, for example it takes longer than usual to access a mast site, you may be entitled to a refund or compensation.
If your provider fails to repair fault by a promised time, or you’re unhappy with how long it is taking to fix it, you should follow their formal complaints procedure.
You will be able to find these on the provider's website or through their customer services team.
If your problem is still unresolved after eight weeks, you can escalate it to an independent Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) scheme.
To do that, you’ll need to ask your provider for a “deadlock” letter that you will have to show one of the two ADR schemes approved by the watchdog - and .
Your provider will be a member of at least one of them. You can find out which one by using the .
A message on the Three website said it was currently down for "essential maintenance".
An automated message on the 333 phone helpline says: "If you’re calling about problems with your signal strength, we’re working hard to fix this now.
"We’re sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience."
Smarty, the the sim-card network that uses Three infrastructure, said the meltdown was a "severe technical issue" for data and calls.
Been down since last night, I need my mobile network as its critical for work , no updates at all from three themselves it's beyond a joke now
Three mobile customer
A peak of more than 5,000 customers reported issues with their service from 6am to 7am, with more than 4,000 logging problems from midnight to 1am.
Forty two per cent had problems accessing the internet on their mobile phone, with 20 per cent complaining they had no signal.
Ernest Doku, mobiles expert at comparison site uSwitch.com, said: "So many of us are completely reliant on our mobile phones for our work and social lives, and Three customers need every reassurance that significant steps are being taken to address this major outage as soon as possible.
"Customers should let Three know if they are suffering a loss of service, and it is interesting to see that so many are already asking on Twitter what compensation they are entitled to.
"Mobile phone users pay their bills every month and expect a high standard of service in return. Being unable to use your network for extended periods is simply not good enough."
Three is yet to provide information about any potential refunds or compensation but it's worth submitting a complaint.
Last December, 02 was forced to apologise after millions of customers were left without data for nearly 24 hours and some couldn't send text messages.
The phone company told customers they would be credited for two days of monthly airtime subscription by the end of January – as little as 84p for some.
Alternatively, you can contact Three via its customer services team. You can find the details here.
A Three spokesman told Sun Online: "“Three is currently experiencing technical difficulties with our services across voice, text and data which means that some customers will be experiencing an intermittent service.
"Our engineers are working on the issue now to fix the problem as soon as possible. We are sorry for the inconvenience caused to our customers.”