Orange admits to as-yet-unresolved data service problems

UPDATE: Problems now resolved, see full story here.

Orange has today admitted to leaving many of its users without mobile internet access due to data network problems which began yesterday.

Orange customers were left internet-less after issues started occuring with the company's data service yesterday afternoon, and twenty four hours later the problems appear to be no closer to being resolved. The issue came to light yesterday via that measure of modern life, Twitter - and  a continuing stream of disatisfaction on the micro-blogging site shows not just displeasure with the service outage, but also with the customer service communication about the problem. A fair number of Twitter users Tweeted their displeasure yesterday when the 3G service became conspicuous by its absence - including comedian Dave Gorman who commented "No service announcement. Nothing on the website. Patronising customer service. Bad form".

Since then Orange has owned up to having some gremlins it can't seem to shift, saying: "We can confirm that some Orange mobile customers across the UK may be experiencing reduced data access. We are trying to resolve this issue as a matter of priority and would like to apologise to customers for any inconvenience caused."

What's missing from Orange's statement, of course, are any details as to the scale of the problem, or when it's likely to be fixed - both of which would be useful information not just to customers without internet access but also to anyone wanting to get a picture of the reliability of networks, for example. However, Orange simply suggests that customers who would like to discuss the matter with them should call and speak to a customer service advisor.