Large-scale disruptions to mobile phone networks and the Internet – the all-clear in Berlin and Bremen

Due to disruptions in the mobile network, the authorities in many parts of Germany received increased notifications on Thursday afternoon that the emergency number could not be reached. In Bremen and Hamburg, the situation centers issued official hazard reports that the emergency numbers 110 and 112 had been impaired. The authorities in Berlin, Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg also reported problems in the O2 mobile network - and thus for some citizens also when reaching the emergency numbers. At allestoerungen.de, reports of alleged failures at Vodafone and Telekom also increased, although not nearly as much as at O2.

“At the moment there seems to be disruption in the entire Hamburg telephone network. In some cases, both some of our departments and the emergency call 110 are affected,” said a tweet from the Hamburg police. The presence of officers on the street will be massively increased.

In NRW, the disturbances continued late in the evening. The emergency lines were never disturbed, said a spokeswoman for the situation center.

After disruptions in cell phone networks in Berlin, the Katwarn and Nina warning systems gave the all-clear in the evening. It said there were no longer any known disruptions in the Berlin area. The Berlin fire brigade had previously received increasing reports that the emergency call 112 could not be dialed. On the part of the fire brigade, however, the emergency call worked, said a spokesman on request. If you can't get through, it's because of your own telephone network.

In Bremen, too, the all-clear was given late in the evening. The impairments have been largely remedied, said the situation center. In other federal states, disruptions were initially not known. Deutsche Telekom made it clear that its network was working without any problems.

In the O2 network, cell phone calls in the afternoon were temporarily not possible for some users. The reason for the restrictions on mobile telephony was a fault on a voice transmission server, the company said. However, a large part of the telephone calls can be transmitted via other servers. "We regret the inconvenience and ask for a little patience." In the early evening, a company spokesman said that the disruption had been partially resolved. "The first measures taken by our technicians have stabilized the networks." Calls with apps such as Whatsapp were possible via data transmission servers.

It was initially not entirely clear why there were such severe restrictions on the accessibility of the emergency numbers in Hamburg and Bremen. An O2 spokesman told the dpa that some customers could not dial the emergency call due to the restrictions on telephony. "We cannot currently confirm other connections with regard to the availability of emergency calls."

In Hamburg, citizens should contact a patrol car or a guard if necessary. In an absolute emergency, the DRK emergency number 19222 is occupied by the police, it said.