Around three million people across the south the England are thought to be affected by the outage, which was caused by a break-in at Vodafone’s Basingstoke data centre.
Sledge hammers were used in the raid, which saw network equipment stolen and more damaged.
Furious customers went straight to Twitter with their complaints, which included: turtlegnome #vodafone down in Devon. Neighbour in panic because her mother in law taken seriously ill and she can't get hold of her husband! #thinkbe4Uact; scottstemp epic #vodafone fail - no emergency backup following a break-in(?!) at their Basingstoke facility. No emails, phone calls or texts at all; scottstemp Mobile battery gone from 100% at 8.00am to 5% at 13.10 because of constantly searching for signal. Thanks #vodafone#sortitout; VellyJelly Dear Vodafone, I would appreciate it if you could return service to normal please. Many thanks, Verity; Eridanus RT @ruskin147: I asked Vodafone why redundancy was not built in so network would stay up...their response "physical theft is a very rare occurrence"; donnyrax RT @andyeb: So anyone spotted any mobile phone network gear on eBay yet? ;-) #vodafone.
Ed says: Maybe someone forgot to lock the door? I have been trying to talk to Vodafone this morning. Reason 1) a double sized phone bill for last month, reportedly down to a 30 minute call to Ireland at a cost of £28, not included tax. And Reason 2) I can’t connect to the Vodafone Sure Signal website after getting hold of a femtocell so she can get a semi-decent reception on her mobile phone, which is all about dropped calls and poor call quality. Result? Customer service computers are running at snail speed today, either due to the break in on the onslaught of calls Vodafone are experiencing this morning because of the break in, and the disconnect team are very irritating – is that where they put staff with no customer service skills? Farewell Vodafone!