Three mobile network in the UK experienced widespread disruption for most of Thursday, January 23, leaving many customers unable to make voice calls. This was first flagged at 1:05 p.m. GMT on Downdetector, and it extended to Smarty and ID Mobile, which are both running on the same network infrastructure.
At 11 p.m. GMT last night, that spike on Downdetector dropped dramatically, and as of 8:09 a.m. GMT this morning (Friday, January 24), Three UK has confirmed that the outage is over.
During the outage, the company reassured customers that data services and emergency 999 calls remain operational, while apologizing for the inconvenience and promising swift corrective measures.
However, that emergency calls bit is not what we and many, many customers found when trying to call 999. In our own testing (posted on TikTok), we saw that attempting to call them just didn't work — leaving a calling screen with no ringing tone indicating the call being connected.
Here’s all the latest updates on what is happening, with all signs that regular service had resumed just before midnight.
Three UK outage in brief
- Reports of an outage first began around 1 p.m. GMT
- Customers have said they can't make 999 calls (and we confirmed this may be the case through testing too), though Three says the majority of calls are being connected
- Three has acknowledged "an ongoing issue affecting a small percentage of voice services" and says it's working on a fix
- Outage reports at Downdetector fell dramatically after 11 p.m. GMT
- Three confirmed in a statement that service has been restored, and we've tested and confirmed it to be back too
Live updates
Three UK are investigating
We're aware of an issue affecting a small percentage of voice services, our team are working hard to fix this as soon as possible. We're really sorry for any inconvenience caused. Data services and 999 calls are unaffected, please bear with us.January 23, 2025
Currently, Three UK have acknowledged there is an outage and are "working hard to fix this as soon as possible." No additional details are known on the cause of it, but we'll update this when we know more.
The outage is very much on-going, as you can see the peak continuing. The most reported locations span across the entirety of the UK:
- Manchester
- Liverpool
- Leeds
- Glasgow
- Nottingham
- Hackney
- London
- Birmingham
- Islington
Three's status checker is up again
One of the more humorous points of this whole outage was that Three's network status checker was down too.
Good news though! It's live again and Three is also sharing a little more detail on some of the wider impact too. "This issue is impacting some of our self-service options."
People can't call 999!?
Yes, I can’t call 999 it doesn’t ring at all! pic.twitter.com/J2Vv1U28C6January 23, 2025
Looking through Three's support X account, we're seeing lots of customers reaching out about the outage, but this one is particularly alarming.
I'm currently in the process of contacting Three for a response.
Tested: 999 calls are not possible
We've reached out to Three for comment, and this is the company's response:
“We are aware of an issue affecting a small percentage of voice services and are working hard to fix it. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused. Data services and 999 calls are unaffected, please bear with us.”
However, we tested this ourselves and can confirm that 999 calls are not being connected. We press the "call" button and there isn't a ringing tone or anything. Stand by for video proof
Video proof: 999 calls are not possible on Three UK network
@tomsguide ♬ memories - leadwave
For context, we tested this call from our office in Paddington, London.
Please note — this was a quick test we did to check the accuracy of claims being made on X by Three UK customers. It is not recommended to ring 999 unnecessarily!
Are EE, O2 and Vodafone customers affected too?
We already know that Three UK, ID Mobile and Smarty (two subsidiaries that operate on Three's network) are down. But we're seeing growing reports for EE, O2 and Vodafone disruptions as well — according to DownDetector.
I'm starting to suspect this might be bigger than we first thought...
Signs of optimism
In good news, the outage report graph is starting to decline gradually over time on DownDetector.
While I won't say we're out of the woods yet, it is a sign to be optimistic that maybe the disruption is on its way to being resolved.
Uswitch expert: Three's outage "incredibly frustrating"
Uswitch mobiles expert Simrat Sharma has weighed in with more thoughts and some good advice too!
"Three’s reported outages will be incredibly frustrating for customers... As SMARTY and iD Mobile also use Three’s network, it’s likely customers on these networks may be experiencing issues with their service too," she commented.
On top of this, Sharma also provided some advice for customers affected.
“Ofcom advises that compensation for mobile signal outages is ‘dependent on the circumstances’, however in extreme cases where repairs take much longer you may be entitled to an additional refund or account credit.
We'll keep an eye on how long this outage lasts, and keep you posted on whether there is a claim to Ofcom here!
Phone calls still not working, but text messages working now?
We're seeing some movement in terms of what is and isn't available. Heather Hoy just posted a comment underneath Three UK's outage page on DownDetector with the following:
"I cannot make phone calls, but I am getting text messages. I was alerted by text earlier to a new voicemail too at 14.19pm this afternoon, and when I called Three voicemail, there was only silence. No automated voice, nothing. There were also no notifications for a new call before the text from Three arrived either, so I suspect that nobody is able to call me either."
We're also seeing some additional info that WiFi calling isn't working as well.
Three's Status Checker is down again
Remember when I said the Coverage and status checker was back? Well, I may have spoken too soon. This is down again.
Current status: uptick in outages
Looking on DownDetector, the picture ain't pretty. There's signs of an uptick beginning in network disruptions again, which we're seeing impact both traditional phone calls and WiFi calling.
On top of this, we're seeing some posts from frustrated users that paint more of this picture on what happened and when it started.
@ThreeUK Mobile has not been working since midday today and is affecting most of England (UK) areas.@ThreeUKSupport Please update on the availability. https://t.co/cRYn5UtCp3January 23, 2025
Turns out it may not have started at just 1:05pm GMT as indicated. It could have started earlier from midday.
@ThreeUKSupport @ThreeUK its a bit bad shutting down live support when it shouldnt be. 8pm close time? pic.twitter.com/Mc0pMGM3x0January 23, 2025
Probably most frustrating to users now is the lack of communication — especially given that the live support service doesn't seem to be responding. People are being told to respond within business hours, even though it's still within said business hours, looking at this screenshot.
Regulator weighs in
In its report on the Three UK outage, the BBC has spoken to regulator Ofcom and gotten a statement:
"We are aware that Three is experiencing problems with its network. We are in contact with Three to establish the scale and cause of the problem as soon as possible."
The BBC also reports that it's not known if Three UK customers will be able to claim compensation for the outage.
Three weighs in
UPDATE: We're aware of an ongoing issue affecting a small percentage of voice services and are working hard to fix it. Data services are unaffected. We're really sorry if you've been affected by this.January 23, 2025
ThreeUK has posted an update to its X account where it's acknowledging "an ongoing issue affecting a small percentage of voice services." The company adds that data services are unaffected.
More from Three
We've heard directly from Three UK, which sent us a statement. It reiterates a lot of what the carrier has already said elsewhere, though there's additional details on 999 calls:
“We are aware of a number of reports that customers have not been able to connect to 999 calls. We are taking this very seriously and are investigating this urgently and we apologise if anyone has been unable to successfully contact emergency services. Call data from the emergency services shows that the majority of 999 calls being placed via our network are being connected via other networks.”
Where we're at now
It's after 9 p.m. in the UK, and at least the Downdetector chart shows the number of outage reports on the decline. (That could also be because people are going to bed.) At any rate, the graph still indicates that people are having issues, and we've gotten no update on whether service has been fully restored.
(If you're wondering about the timeline in the above graph, it reflects the time in the Pacific Time Zone, where this report is being filed from.)
Awkward timing
This Three outage comes about a month after the Competition and Markets Authority gave the green light to Three's merger with Vodafone. The £16.5 billion deal is expected to be completed in the first half of this year, giving the combined company a customer base of 27 million subscribers. Among the conditions of regulatory approval was agreeing to invest in network upgrades.
Three comments again
We've got another comment from a Three spokesperson:
“There is an ongoing issue affecting a small percentage of voice services and we are working hard to fix it. Data services are unaffected.
“We are aware of a number of reports that customers have not been able to connect to 999 calls. Data from the emergency services shows that normal volumes of 999 calls being placed via our network are being connected.
“We are taking these reports very seriously and are investigating this urgently and we apologise if anyone has been unable to successfully contact emergency services.
“While it is likely your call will connect correctly to 999, if you have any issues please try another network or landline. Please do not try and test 999 calls from your device as it may prevent genuine calls being answered quickly.”
Outages still being reported
It's after 11 p.m. GMT in the UK, and from the looks of things at Downdetector, some customers are still reporting problems with voice calls, though the volume isn't as heavy as it was when the problems first surfaced 10 hours ago.
Service appears to be back
Outage reports at Downdetector began to fall off dramatically after 11 p.m. GMT, and now that Thursday has made way for Friday, there's very little activity. While Three UK itself hasn't confirmed it, it appears that full service is available again, with the outage lasting around 10 hours for those affected.
Confirmed: service is back
We've tested it ourselves and received a comment from Three. Three's network seems to be back up, and the users of DownDetector agree too.
However, we're not 100% out of the woods yet, as an "additional impact" is anticipated because of Storm Éowyn.
Here is what Three has to say:
“Following an issue affecting voice calls yesterday, services have returned to normal overnight. We continue to monitor and review all services throughout today to ensure full stability. However, today we expect to see an additional impact on our service due to Storm Éowyn in some areas. We have already deployed extra engineering resources and planning for these areas, so we can bring sites that are impacted back online as soon as it is safe to do so."
Three also has something to say about making 999 calls. To those who missed it last night, the company claimed that calls to emergency services were "unaffected," but a lot of users disagreed.
@tomsguide ♬ memories - leadwave
Following this, we tested it ourselves and found that 999 calls were not connecting (at least from our location).
"A normal volume of 999 calls were connected yesterday and our monitoring confirms the service is working fully this morning. We continue to investigate the small number of reports that we received about 999 call failures. We apologise sincerely for the inconvenience caused by the issues on our voice network yesterday.”
What are your rights?
Are you entitled to compensation? It's a tricky situation, so let's turn to Ofcom's mobile faults guide. I'm cobbling this together based on both Ofcom's advice and Three's terms and conditions.
First thing that is recommended is to raise this through the company's formal complaints procedure. While users are indeed getting responses from Three UK via their social media channels, a quick glance at the company's "how to complain" page does not list it as a method of starting the process. Submit a complaint through any of these methods and request a copy of your complaint.
If the problem is still unresolved after eight weeks, a complaint can be made to the Alternative Dispute Resolution scheme (Three UK is part of the Communication & Internet Services Adjudication Scheme).
However, since on this occasion, the situation seems to have been (mostly) resolved, this point doesn't matter. Anyone in the path of Storm Éowyn though, keep a very close eye on your network connectivity.
If you are unhappy with the near 14-hour outage and the response from Three, you can fill out Ofcom's short monitoring form. These aren't investigated individually, but if enough of you do the same, it'll bring about an investigation.
We've reached out to Ofcom for comment.
