Vodafone users in the UK experienced substantial internet difficulties on Wednesday morning due to an outage caused by its broadband partner, CityFibre.
The issue, which occurred at around 2:40 AM, caused widespread connectivity issues, with many customers reporting a "total blackout."
According to DownDetector, a service status tracking website, over 800 Vodafone customers complained about their internet connectivity before 8:00 a.m. Of those affected, 14% reported a total loss of connectivity, leaving them unable to access online services.
Vodafone quickly corrected the situation, apologizing to affected customers. A company spokesperson said, "We're sorry to customers for the inconvenience. " The spokesperson clarified that a network outage on CityFibre caused the problem. Vodafone assured users that the issue had been quickly resolved, and services were fully operational by 9:30 a.m.
CityFibre confirmed early this morning that a configuration error caused intermittent network connectivity problems. A spokesperson explained, "The issue was quickly identified and resolved, with everyone back up and running by 9:30 a.m. We apologize for any inconvenience."
Frustrated customers resorted to the social media platform X to express their concerns. One user wrote, "Hi @VodafoneUK, is your broadband down? Even the 4G backup hasn't kicked in." Another posted, "@VodafoneUK @cityfibre, any ideas when your issues will be fixed (in Reading)? I take it that something major has failed?"
This outage emphasizes Vodafone's reliance on third-party providers such as CityFibre for broadband services. While the problem was quickly resolved, it caused some disruption for home and business users who rely on stable internet connections.
The incident also had a slight financial impact, with Vodafone Group PLC's shares falling 1.1% to 70.34 pence in London trading on Wednesday morning.
While the outage may not have directly caused the share price drop, service disruptions can influence consumer trust and corporate reputation.
Vodafone and CityFibre have assured customers that they are always working to improve network stability and prevent similar events from occurring in the future.