It’s been a bad week for Vodafone customers. Not only did a massive outage hit the network’s broadband, mobile internet services, website and customer service phone lines on October 13, many are still experiencing knock-on effects.
The problems officially only lasted for a few hours from about 2.30pm BST, with the peak where over 130,000 customers reported a complete blackout of their Vodafone services on Downdetector.
The scale of the outage made it one of the biggest of the year, but hundreds of people are still reporting lingering effects – with some still without their broadband days after.
So what caused all these problems, what can we learn from it – and most importantly, can customers be compensated for the significant inconvenience they have experienced? We’ve asked experts for their guidance below.
What caused the Vodafone outage?
Vodafone’s latest statement about its major outage on October 13 dismissed suggestions that it was a cyber attack.
“On Monday afternoon, the Vodafone network briefly experienced an issue affecting broadband, 4G and 5G services. This was triggered by a non-malicious software issue with one of our supplier partners, which has now been resolved and the network is fully restored. We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused our customers,” the network said.
Rumors of a cyber attack grew because the outage not only took out Vodafone’s broadband and mobile internet services, but also its website and customer service phone lines. These symptoms reflected so-called distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, where a network is deliberately overwhelmed by an attacker.
But as Vodafone’s statement reveals, an internal network error was apparently the culprit. But can they really take out more services in such a dramatic way, and shouldn’t there be safeguards in place?
Jake Moore, Global Cybersecurity Advisor at ESET, said it’s unusual but still possible. “Software bugs like this can happen when a routine update or configuration change doesn’t behave as expected, but it’s rare on this scale,” he said.
“Modern telecommunications networks are incredibly complex, with lots of automated systems working together, and unfortunately one small error has the potential to ripple through and temporarily affect performance – or as we saw here, knock systems offline,” he added.
From a business perspective, the Vodafone outage is another timely reminder that better protections should be in place. Daniel Card, a cyber security expert at BCS, (The Chartered Institute for IT), said: “Major ISP outages in the UK are relatively rare, but when they do happen they serve as an important reminder of how dependent we have become on constant connectivity”.
“It’s not just about defending against malicious cyber threats – accidents, misconfigurations and technical failures can be just as disruptive,” he added. And Vodafone customers can certainly vouch for that.
Can you get compensation for the Vodafone outage?
I asked Ofcom (the UK’s media watchdog) for their official guidance for customers seeking compensation for the Vodafone outage. The news is mixed, depending on whether you’ve had problems with your broadband or mobile internet – and for how long.
“We know it’s frustrating when things go wrong. If you’re unhappy, you should complain directly to your provider,” an Ofcom spokesperson told me. “If your broadband service isn’t fixed after two working days, Ofcom’s automatic compensation scheme means you can get your money back automatically without having to ask”.
How much money exactly? Sabrina Hoque, telecoms expert at Uswitch.com, added: “If your broadband connection goes down for more than two days, you may be entitled to compensation of £9.76 for each calendar day the service is not repaired”. There is more information on Ofcom’s automatic compensation guide, which shows that Vodafone is at least signed up to the scheme.
At least that’s some positive news for those still suffering from broadband issues from the outage that started on October 13. In theory, you should automatically receive compensation if it is not fixed after two business days. However, the guidance regarding mobile internet is more vague. Ofcom told me that unfortunately its automatic compensation scheme does not cover mobile.
“Ofcom advises that compensation for mobile signal interruptions is ‘circumstance dependent’. However, in extreme cases where repairs take much longer, you may be entitled to an additional refund or account credit,” added Sabrina Hoque from Uswitch.
This means that for mobile outages on Vodafone or related networks like Lebara, you’ll need to contact the network directly, which is something many TechRadar readers say they’ve had issues with this week.
For Vodafone, there are three ways to contact the network – through its My Vodafone app (on Android or iOS), by phone (0333 304 0191 or 191 from your Vodafone mobile) using the TOBi chat on its website. Unfortunately, there isn’t a single email address for customer complaints, but the latter promises to put you through to a real agent if that can’t help.
This won’t be good news for many – one TechRadar reader told me their broadband has been down for four days and they’ve been unable to get through on the phone, with their online account stating Vodafone was working to fix their broadband.
Vodafone did not respond to my request for further guidance for those still experiencing problems or looking for compensation.
Is the Vodafone outage actually over?
Vodafone talks about this week’s outage in the past tense, saying the network is “fully restored”, but the reality appears to be somewhat different.
At the time of writing, Downdetector (above) shows reports of problems in the 130-250 range – much less than the peak of the outage, but far higher than a typical baseline for a network.
The site’s comments are filled with reports of continued broadband issues, with some (but far from all) reporting some success performing a hard reset of their router. Others say Vodafone has told them it is still “working on” a solution.
This has been reflected in countless emails sent to TechRadar from understandably frustrated customers. Some say their broadband is still down, but the biggest annoyance is that they are unable to contact Vodafone – with phone lines disconnected after an hour’s wait, and no updates via their online accounts.
The lack of communication is poor and I have contacted Vodafone for an updated statement. Apart from getting back in touch with Vodafone yourself, there’s unfortunately not much you can do other than try our tips on what to do if your broadband is slow or not working.
But if there’s a network problem in your area (you can check on Vodafone’s Network Status Checker), then unfortunately it’s probably a waiting game until it’s fixed.
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