The UK O2 mobile phones are back up after millions of customers were locked out of the network triggered by a software problem.
CEO Mark Evans had to apologise to O2’s customers – plus those of a string of other smaller brands that piggy-back on the company’s technology, like Sky, Tesco Mobile, GiffGaff and Lycamobile.
“We can now report that our 4G network has been restored,” said a statement from the firm.
“Our technical teams will continue to monitor service performance closely over the next few days to ensure we remain stable.
But although a software glitch reportedly emanating from tech supplier Ericsson was blamed for the outage, O2 has suffered some serious reputational damage with customers.
Tech giant arrest
O2 is the UK’s second largest mobile network, owned by Telefonica, which also owns Ericsson UK and Ireland.
The network has 32 million customers.
In the markets, trade tensions between the US and China, worsened with the arrest of Chinese tech giant Huawei’s chief financial officer in Canada.
Meng Wanzhou was arrested by US officials investigating breaches of international sanctions against Iran. Washington is filing papers for Wanzhou’s extradition.
Wall Street is also waiting for news from the US Federal Reserve about an expected interest rate hike.
Brexit worries
US markets have dipped by more than 10% in recent weeks – and the fear is they could drop even further.
Continuing concerns about Brexit and the possibility of the UK Parliament rejecting the deal with the European Union hit markets across Europe. In London, traders also have worries about UK growth after Brexit and falling oil prices.
The price of a barrel of Brent crude sank by 2% in a day.
Market data
| Exchange | % change | Value | Movement |
| LONDON | |||
| FTSE 100 | 1.25% | 6784.94 | 83.99 |
| FTSE 250 | 0.94% | 17920.70 | 167.39 |
| Amsterdam | |||
| AEX | 1.32% | 505.50 | 6.58 |
| Paris | |||
| CAC40 | 1.31% | 4843.13 | 62.67 |
| Frankfurt | |||
| DAX | 0.45% | 10859.28 | 48.30 |
| STOXX50 | 1.02% | 3076.88 | 30.94 |
| Madrid | |||
| IBEX35 | 1.21% | 8870.70 | 106.20 |
| New York | |||
| Dow Jones | -0.32% | 24947.67 | -79.40 |
| NASDAQ | 0.42% | 7188.26 | 29.83 |
| Chicago | |||
| S&P500 | -0.15% | 2695.95 | -4.11 |
| Bombay | |||
| BSE Sensex | 1.02% | 35673.25 | 361.12 |
| Hong Kong | |||
| Hang Seng | -0.35% | 26063.76 | -92.62 |
| Tokyo | |||
| Nikkei | 0.82% | 21678.68 | 177.06 |
| Shanghai | |||
| Shanghai Composite | -0.68% | 2,641.34 | -18.01 |
Source: BBC
