Singtel Landline Outage Affects Emergency Hotlines, Including 999 and 995
A widespread service outage of Singtel’s landline services was reported by users in Singapore on October 8, affecting various institutions, including hospitals, banks, and public services. The outage, which occurred between 2 pm and 4 pm, caused difficulties for customers trying to reach these organizations.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) and Singapore Police Force (SPF) were among those affected, with their emergency hotlines, 995 and 999, respectively, being impacted. The SCDF advised the public to message them at 70995 or SPF at 70999 instead.
KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital also reported that all its phone lines were down due to a technical fault, and customers were advised to email the hospital for appointment matters.
Banks, including DBS Bank, UOB, and Standard Chartered, also informed customers of a “telco service disruption” on their apps. DBS stated that it was working closely with its telco provider to resolve the issue as soon as possible.
According to DownDetector, a spike in Singtel outages appeared to begin at 1:51 pm, with 2,681 reports confirmed by 3:21 pm. Most reported problems pertained to landline phone service.
Singtel apologized for the inconvenience caused and stated that its engineers were working urgently to deploy workaround measures to resolve the fixed voice service issue. The company assured customers that all mobile and broadband services remained unaffected.
As of 5:06 pm, Singtel reported that its engineers had isolated the problem affecting its fixed voice services, and recovery measures were being rapidly deployed. Services were progressively being restored.
The outage caused frustration among users, who took to social media to express their concerns. The incident highlights the importance of having a reliable and efficient communication system, especially for emergency services.
Singtel’s swift response and efforts to resolve the issue are commendable, and the company’s commitment to transparency and accountability is crucial in maintaining trust with its customers