The fault, which first came to light at around 1pm this afternoon, affects all O2 customers with pay-monthly handsets. It appears to affect all devices, including BlackBerrys and iPhones, and has left users unable to send or receive emails and text messages, or surf the internet. Voice calls have not been affected by the fault.
O2 has been unable to confirm the cause of the problem, but has been advising customers to call its customer support helpline for further information and troubleshooting advice.
On O2's official Twitter stream, customer service representatives have been fielding anxious tweets from users baffled by the drop in service. "We're having a problem across the UK at the moment – we're working to fix it ASAP", read one tweet from O2.
Wi-Fi connectivity is unaffected by the outage, meaning that O2 users in a wireless hot spot can continue to send and receive emails and surf the internet over a Wi-Fi connection.
A spokesperson for O2 was unable to give any more details about the cause of the fault, nor say when the problem would be resolved, but said that engineers were working on the issue.
O2's network problems come at a difficult time for the operator. Apple is rumoured to be considering allowing rival networks Orange and T-Mobile to sell the iPhone 3G in the UK, signalling a possible end to its exclusivity deal with O2. And Palm has just signed a deal with O2 that will see the Spanish-owned operator become the exclusive launch carrier for the critically acclaimed Palm Pre handset when it becomes available in the UK later this year.
will be irate at not having their precious iShit's permanently connected to the internets
