It is one of the most popular mobile networks in the UK.
But Three UK is down this morning in an outage that has affected thousands of Britons.
According to Down Detector, issues began shortly after 08:00 BST, peaking at over 9,300 reports.
Of those users affected, 79 per cent reported being unable to make voice calls, while 17 per cent said they couldn’t get a phone signal.
The outage is also affecting the ID Mobile and Smarty networks, which are owned by Three UK.
Three UK has now confirmed the outage, and says it is ‘working on a fix’.
Speaking to MailOnline, a spokesperson said: ‘We’re aware of an issue affecting voice services and are working hard to fix it.
‘Data services are working normally. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused.’
On X, Smarty issued an identical statement confirming the issue, while ID Mobile is yet to release any additional information.
According to Down Detector’s outage map, the issue is widespread across the UK.
Reports of service disruption have been made from London, Cardiff, Birmingham, Manchester and several other large towns.
Outages for Smarty and ID Mobile show a similar distribution.
Furious customers have flocked to social media to share their outrage and demand compensation from the network.
One frustrated commenter wrote: ‘Give us compensation not a lousy sorry.’
‘Can’t receive text messages either no incoming or outgoing calls it’s a shambles but I bet there be no compensation again,’ one customer vented.
While another added: ‘Get your act together Three, not good enough. I take it we will see a discount in our bills this month?’
With the outage starting at the beginning of the working day, many customers have also taken to social media to complain about the inconvenience this has caused.
One customer wrote: ‘Absolutely horrendous! I have a young child who is ill, and had to get him out of bed this morning and drive to our doctors surgery because I couldn’t call them! I’m also missing out on work!’
Another chimed in: ‘My girlfriend is awaiting a call back from the doctors. Your network is down meaning she can’t receive calls.’
While another furiously posted: ‘I have just missed a very important phone call, three times call went to voicemail and I can’t even get through this voicemail, are you having a laugh?’
The affected companies are yet to confirm what the cause of today’s disruption might be or how long it could be expected to last.
However, this is not the first time that Three’s mobile networks have caused widespread issues.
In January, Three was affected by a string of outages over two days.
The longest of these lasted for around 17 hours and generated over 10,000 outage reports with Three, Smarty, and ID Mobile.
Worryingly, during these outages, many users complained that they were unable to use 999 services.
Following these highly disruptive outages, some customers on social media have even threatened to cancel their accounts altogether.
On X, one customer wrote: ‘Time to switch. Seriously, I need my phone today.’
‘Enough is enough, I’m off to EE,’ posted another.
While one added: ‘I’m literally counting down the days until I will never have to deal with your company.’
If you have been affected by the service disruption, you could be eligible for compensation from your mobile network.
To make a complaint and ask for compensation, you can either use the ‘Live Chat’ function on Three’s website or call customer support at ‘333’ from your mobile.
Alternatively, you can fill out a form online via your mobile provider’s website.
Whether you are eligible for compensation will depend on how long the service disruption lasts.
However, since Three, Smarty, and ID Mobile are not signed up to Ofcom’s automatic compensation scheme, you will need to make a complaint to receive payment.
If you are still unhappy with the outcome, you can also report the experience to Ofcom’s monitoring service.
Although Ofcom does not investigate individual complaints, your experiences may help form part of a larger investigation if data reveals a particular problem.
