Japanese telecom operator NTT DoCoMo suffers massive communications outage, affecting 2 million users

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On October 16, according to Nikkei Chinese website, Japan's largest telecommunications operator NTT docomo experienced a nationwide network failure from 5 to 8 p.m. local time on the 14th. Almost all mobile phone users in the country could not receive signals. Afterwards, the company announced that the 5G and 4G networks had been repaired, but some 3G lines used by "feature phones" were still difficult to connect to in some areas. Officials said that it was impossible to predict when the full repair would be possible.

docomo claimed that the service was gradually restored from 8 pm, but as of 11 pm local time, a large number of users still reported connection problems. The company held an online press conference at 2 pm on the 15th, and the vice president in charge of network quality, Hozumi Tamura, apologized, saying, "We deeply apologize for causing trouble and worry to everyone. We will work hard to find out the cause and prevent it from happening again."

It is worth noting that some users reported on Twitter that mobile phones using the eSIM service of ahamo, a low-cost operator under docomo, can receive signals and access the Internet normally, but cannot make calls.

As of press time, the status page on NTT docomo's official website shows that communications across Japan have returned to normal.