Disaster struck the UK on Thursday morning and for once it wasn't about Brexit.
Britain's second-largest network provider, O2, lost data coverage, tearing at the very fabric of society.
O2 internet down. I had to speak to someone on the train. This is a disgrace. #o2 #o2down
The company claims to have "over 32 million connections" and was awarded Best Network Coverage this year by comparison website uSwitch.
Panic ensued as the prospect of having IRL conversations with fellow travellers dawned on weary commuters.
Whilst o2 are having network issues, I’ve found this fantastic handy guide to keep us going in the meantime #o2down
People were complaining on the internet about their lack of internet. Others probably wanted to, but had no internet.
Good morning to everyone except @O2 because I have no mobile data which means I might as well have woken up in 2001. Although, I can't even play Snake. Fuck off.
It is taking a long time to fix.
...waiting for @O2 data to come back online like...#carrierpigeonattheready
Like, a really long time.
Sat in 'ouse waiting for #O2 to fix data problem......
The struggle was real.
The O2 data network going down in the UK is the modern day equivalent of ‘Hush’.
Ironically, O2 also announced the problem on Twitter.
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
Not once, but *twice*.
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.
People were quick to point out that the whole point was that users *had no internet*.
Anyone else find it ironic that O2 announced their data connection is down by posting on the internet about it? How their customers meant to see it? #o2down #o2
Casually checking twitter to confirm that 02 is down #o2
Some offered the network giant some free words of wisdom.
@O2 Nice how announced on social media but you need a wi-fi connection to read! You should text all users instead of sending marketing messages!
Others just demanded freebies.
Fuck o2 I want my bill free for the next year thanks
And then there were those who predicted the rise of the machines, noting that Japanese telecoms giant SoftBank was also experiencing problems.
So O2 is down in the UK, and Softbank (huge Japanese telecoms network) is also down today. Is this the day the machines rise? Are these just the first ripples of some Greater Mind stirring? #o2down #SoftBank #Singularity
People across central Japan were left without connectivity on Thursday afternoon.
O2 said it believes other mobile operators "around the world" are affected by the "global software issue".
