All of Angus Council’s off-street car park meters are out of use due to UK-wide “network issues” affecting 02.
The local authority took to Twitter to inform locals that the machines, which were controversially reintroduced on November 1, are down.
It comes as O2, Tesco Mobile and Sky Mobile customers across the UK experience problems with mobile data services.
An O2 statement said they will “work through the night” to fix the problem and that full service should be resumed by morning.
Update: Our network teams continue to make this a top priority and we are slowly beginning to restore our services which will continue throughout tonight. Here's our latest position with a joint statement from our and Ericsson UK & Ireland's CEO >https://t.co/5oS7qap2bj
— O2 in the UK (@O2) December 6, 2018
The resulting “high demand” from O2 customers led to further issues with voice calls.
The “global software issue” has been traced back to a software issue at Ericsson, which is a third party provider to the mobile phone networks.
The firm claim the problem is the result of “nodes” in its core network, causing knock-on disturbances in several countries.
Ericsson said the problem stemmed from an expired certificate in “two specific software versions of the SGSN–MME” – which has now been “decommissioned” by the company.
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President and chief executive of Ericsson Börje Ekholm said: “The faulty software that has caused these issues is being decommissioned and we apologize not only to our customers but also to their customers.
“We work hard to ensure that our customers can limit the impact and restore their services as soon as possible.”
For more from Ericsson, click here.
Update on software issue impacting certain customers: https://t.co/IioTobl9zN pic.twitter.com/g0g07aHdVy
— Ericsson (@ericsson) December 6, 2018
O2 is the network provider for Angus Council’s off-street parking meters. The machines have been covered up until the issues are fixed.
A local authority spokesman said: “All parking meters in our off-street car parks are unavailable for use due to network issues which are currently affecting a number of services UK-wide.
“This is an intermittent fault but the meters will be covered until this matter is fully resolved.
“Our service provider is in contact with O2 – the network provider – with a view to having service restored at the earliest opportunity.”
All parking meters in our off –street car parks are unavailable for use due to network issues which are currently affecting a number of services UK-wide. This is an intermittent fault but the meters will be covered until this matter is fully resolved.
— Angus Council (@AngusCouncil) December 6, 2018
Local O2 customers have also reported issues, with many people in Dundee left unable to use data or make calls.
In a statement, O2 said: “All O2 technical teams are working closely with one of our third party suppliers who has identified a global software issue in their system which has impacted data services.
“As a result of this incident, we are experiencing a high demand on our network which means some customers may have issues making and receiving voice calls.
“We believe other mobile operators around the world are also affected. We apologise to our customers for any inconvenience.”
Tesco Mobile and Sky Mobile customers are also said to be experiencing issues, with more than 30 million people affected in total.
We are aware our customers are unable to use data this morning. Our technical teams are working on the issue with high priority. We are really sorry and working as hard and as fast as we can to fix this. Please keep an eye on our status checker: https://t.co/O8fb26fNIv
— O2 in the UK (@O2) December 6, 2018
Outage Update: Our teams are working closely with one of our 3rd party suppliers who has identified an issue in their system which has impacted mobile services globally. This is our top priority and we are really sorry. Get updates here: https://t.co/5oS7qap2bj
— O2 in the UK (@O2) December 6, 2018
Outage Update: One of our 3rd party suppliers has identified a software issue in their system. Our technical teams are working extremely hard to resolve this. We'd encourage you to use Wi-Fi wherever you can and we are really sorry.
— O2 in the UK (@O2) December 6, 2018
We are aware our customers are experiencing intermittent network issues this morning. Our technical teams are working on the issue with high priority. We are really sorry and working as hard and as fast as we can to fix this. We’re sorry for any inconvenience.
— Tesco Mobile (@tescomobile) December 6, 2018
It is unclear whether the O2 outage, said to be the result of a “global software issue”, is linked to the problems with Angus Council’s parking meters.
@O2 I'm in Dundee and have no signal my phone only works for internet when on wifi I can't make calls either
— Amy Milne (@amymilne1989) December 6, 2018
I want to reassure our customers that we are doing everything we can to fix the issue with our network and say how sorry I am to everyone affected. My teams are working really hard with Ericsson to find a swift resolution. Stay updated: https://t.co/TGw5OUurma
— Mark Evans (@MarkEvansO2) December 6, 2018
Tesco Mobile Tweeted: “Our technical teams are working closely with one of our third party suppliers who has identified a global software issue in their system.
“This remains our priority and we apologise to our customers for any inconvenience. We will continue to update you here.”
The Sky Help team, responding to customer concerns on Twitter, say the problem has been pinpointed and staff are working with O2 to resolve the situation.
UPDATE: The network issue we’re experiencing is our top priority & we’re working with O2 technical teams to resolve as quickly as we can. We’re sorry for any disruption.
— Sky Help Team (@SkyHelpTeam) December 6, 2018
UPDATE: The issues with the O2 network have now been identified & we’re working hard with them to fix the problem. We're sorry this may mean you’re unable to use your data services at this time. We will keep you updated here.
— Sky Help Team (@SkyHelpTeam) December 6, 2018
@O2 I'm in Dundee and have no signal my phone only works for internet when on wifi I can't make calls either
— Amy Milne (@amymilne1989) December 6, 2018
@O2 I'm in Dundee and have no signal my phone only works for internet when on wifi I can't make calls either
— Amy Milne (@amymilne1989) December 6, 2018
I want to reassure our customers that we are doing everything we can to fix the issue with our network and say how sorry I am to everyone affected. My teams are working really hard with Ericsson to find a swift resolution. Stay updated: https://t.co/TGw5OUurma
— Mark Evans (@MarkEvansO2) December 6, 2018
Tesco Mobile Tweeted: “Our technical teams are working closely with one of our third party suppliers who has identified a global software issue in their system.
“This remains our priority and we apologise to our customers for any inconvenience. We will continue to update you here.”
The Sky Help team, responding to customer concerns on Twitter, say the problem has been pinpointed and staff are working with O2 to resolve the situation.
UPDATE: The network issue we’re experiencing is our top priority & we’re working with O2 technical teams to resolve as quickly as we can. We’re sorry for any disruption.
— Sky Help Team (@SkyHelpTeam) December 6, 2018
UPDATE: The issues with the O2 network have now been identified & we’re working hard with them to fix the problem. We're sorry this may mean you’re unable to use your data services at this time. We will keep you updated here.
— Sky Help Team (@SkyHelpTeam) December 6, 2018
@O2 I'm in Dundee and have no signal my phone only works for internet when on wifi I can't make calls either
— Amy Milne (@amymilne1989) December 6, 2018
@O2 no signal or data in Dundee area
— Colindufc??????? (@colindufc) December 6, 2018
