The online service Downdetector reported a significant increase in reported issues from Telenor customers on Wednesday morning. According to the website, it was mainly mobile customers who reported problems. The large increase in issues began just before 10:30 AM, and Telenor was only able to announce that the problems were resolved by around 5 PM.
Downdetector’s outage map shows that the majority of the problems were reported by customers in the Oslo, Trondheim, Bergen, and Stavanger areas.
The problems initially led to an inability to make calls, receive calls, or send SMS messages.
Emergency numbers down – trains delayed
Emergency numbers were also affected by the problems. Particularly critical were the issues with emergency numbers 110, 112, and 113. In addition, the police’s common number 02800 and the emergency medical service number 116117 experienced problems.
Bane Nor reported that there were train delays across the country due to faults in the mobile network.
– Unfortunately, mobile customers are currently experiencing difficulties making calls from their mobile phones. We are working on troubleshooting and resolving this. We will provide an update soon, replied Telenor’s press chief Anders Krokan in an email to Digi, after we had unsuccessfully attempted to reach several Telenor employees by phone and SMS on Wednesday morning.
Stay on the line!
In an SMS at 12:05 PM, coverage director Bjørn Amundsen at Telenor confirmed that Telenor customers were experiencing delays in voice calls, but noted that SMS and mobile data were functioning normally at that time.
– The fault is due to a power outage at one of our central offices. We are seeing improvements in the situation and continue to work on rectifying the issue. Customers may experience delays in getting through to emergency services. A tip is to stay on the line and be patient before being connected, he writes.
The East police district eventually reported that one could get through to 112 if one waited about 20 seconds, even if there was silence on the other end. The Norwegian Directorate of Health reported to VG that some people had managed to get through after holding the line for up to 40 seconds.
At around noon, VG reported that the cause of the Telenor outage had been identified. It involved a power outage at one of Telenor’s central offices. However, Telenor did not disclose to Digi where in the country this central office is located.
At 12:41 PM, TV2 and NRK reported that emergency numbers were functioning again, but Telenor announced at 2:45 PM that delays could still be experienced.
– For regular calls, we see an improvement in the situation, but the fault is still not resolved, the company stated in the update.
At 5:03 PM, however, the company reported that the problems had been resolved and that all services were functioning normally.
– We sincerely apologize to everyone who has been affected, and I can assure you that we take this very seriously, writes the CEO of Telenor Norway, Birgitte Engebretsen, in the message.
She stated that preliminary analyses indicate that the incident was caused by a power outage at a central office, but that work is ongoing to fully map the causes.
– Now we will leave no stone unturned to ensure that this does not happen again, she says.
Fourth outage
Wednesday’s incident is the fourth time Telenor outages have caused problems with emergency numbers this fall, and Nkom director John-Eivind Velure considers this completely unacceptable. You can read more about this here.
For the record: The Telenor issues do not affect the Emergency Network, which is a separate internal mobile network used by emergency services. Emergency numbers do not go over the emergency network but through the commercial networks of Telenor, Telia, and Ice.
Director Elisabeth Aarsæther at the Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning confirms to Digi that the Emergency Network has not been affected but emphasizes that it is serious if one cannot get through to emergency numbers.
– It is important that we clarify what has happened, so that measures can be implemented to reduce the risk of it happening again, she writes in an email.
How did the Telenor outage impact emergency services during the disruption?
Interview Transcript: Telenor Outage Analysis
Interviewer: Good afternoon, everyone! Welcome to our special segment on the recent Telenor service outage that caused significant disruptions for customers across Norway. Joining us today is Norway’s telecommunications expert, Dr. Marit Hvide, who has extensive experience in analyzing network issues and their implications. Thank you for being here, Dr. Hvide.
Dr. Hvide: Thank you for having me! I’m glad to be here to discuss this important topic.
Interviewer: Let’s dive right into it. What exactly happened on Wednesday morning with Telenor’s mobile network?
Dr. Hvide: Well, according to reports, Telenor experienced a significant outage that began around 10:30 AM. It primarily affected mobile services; customers were unable to make or receive calls, or send SMS messages. The outage was quite extensive, impacting areas including Oslo, Trondheim, Bergen, and Stavanger, as illustrated by Downdetector’s outage map.
Interviewer: That’s quite a widespread issue for a major telecom provider. What were some of the immediate consequences of this outage?
Dr. Hvide: The immediate consequences were quite serious. Not only did regular communication services get disrupted, but emergency services were affected as well. Critical numbers like 110, 112, and 113 faced outages, which is particularly alarming because these are essential for public safety. This led to train delays too, as Bane Nor reported, indicating a ripple effect on critical infrastructure.
Interviewer: It must have been incredibly stressful for those trying to reach emergency services. How did Telenor respond to the situation?
Dr. Hvide: Telenor’s response was prompt and involved multiple updates throughout the day. In the early hours of the outage, their press chief Anders Krokan confirmed they were working on troubleshooting the issue. By noon, coverage director Bjørn Amundsen communicated that the outage was due to a power failure at one of their central offices. They also advised customers to remain patient when contacting emergency services, which indicates they were quite aware of the urgency.
Interviewer: It’s good to see they were communicating with their customers. But it must have been frustrating for users, with reports of waiting up to 40 seconds even to connect to emergency lines.
Dr. Hvide: Absolutely, it’s a troubling scenario when people are in distress and cannot connect quickly. While Telenor managed to recover services by around 5 PM, the prolonged delays in accessing emergency numbers are concerning and highlight vulnerabilities in our communications infrastructure.
Interviewer: With this incident in mind, do you think more should be done to improve the reliability of mobile networks in Norway?
Dr. Hvide: Yes, I believe this incident is a wake-up call for telecom providers, not just Telenor but the entire industry. There needs to be a stronger emphasis on redundancy and risk mitigation strategies to handle power outages or other emergencies. Regular audits, backups for critical systems, and enhanced coordination with emergency services could significantly improve response times during outages.
Interviewer: It’s a challenging balance between technology and infrastructure. Given the increasing reliance on mobile connectivity, especially in emergencies, this is an important conversation to have.
Dr. Hvide: Exactly! With the growing interdependence of technology and daily life, telecom providers need to prioritize operational resilience. Incidents like this remind us that we can’t take connectivity for granted.
Interviewer: Thank you very much, Dr. Hvide, for sharing your insights with us today. We hope that both customers and telecommunication companies can learn from this experience to make future networks more robust and responsive.
Dr. Hvide: Thank you for having me. It’s been a pleasure discussing this critical topic.
Interviewer: And thank you to our viewers for tuning in! Stay connected, and stay safe. Until next time!