Ofcom has confirmed it’s investigating BT and Three following major mobile network outages earlier this year, incidents that went beyond everyday inconvenience and, in some cases, prevented customers from contacting emergency services.
The regulator is looking into separate disruptions that hit both networks over the summer of 2025. BT’s outage, which affected both BT and EE customers, took place on July 24 and 25 and was caused by a software-related issue.
During that period, users were unable to make or receive calls, including calls to the emergency services, a failure that places telecoms providers under particularly intense scrutiny.
Three, meanwhile, experienced a nationwide outage on June 25, leaving customers similarly unable to contact the police, ambulance or fire services. According to the company, the disruption followed an “exceptional spike” in network traffic triggered by a third-party software configuration change.
Both incidents were formally reported to Ofcom, as required under UK regulations, once service disruption reached a certain threshold. The regulator’s role now is to determine whether BT and Three took what it describes as “appropriate and proportionate measures” to prevent such failures, and whether the outages could reasonably have been avoided.
In statements shared following the announcement, both companies said they are cooperating fully with the investigation. BT apologised again for the July incident, while Three said it has been working openly with Ofcom since the outage occurred.
If Ofcom concludes that either provider failed to meet its regulatory obligations, financial penalties are likely. That wouldn’t be unprecedented: BT was fined £17.5 million last year over a separate failure that blocked thousands of 999 calls.
For customers, the frustration is simple. Reliable mobile service, particularly access to emergency calls, isn’t a bonus feature, but a basic expectation. Ofcom’s investigation will now decide whether this summer’s “great outages” crossed the line from technical failure into regulatory breach.
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