Orange data outage caused by technology fails

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.