Vodacom was up and running again on Friday afternoon after subscribers could not make or receive phone calls earlier.
In a statement, Vodacom apologised to subscribers who experienced difficulty in making and receiving calls for approximately one hour on Friday.
People who tried to phone from their Vodacom phones got a ”network busy” signal. Those phoning the network either got a busy tone or the message that ”the number you have dialled does not exist”.
”After extensive investigation Vodacom has identified that incoming data received on interconnecting links from the Cell C network appears to have disrupted the Vodacom network, and Vodacom has therefore terminated all links from Cell C to the Vodacom network with immediate effect until this problem can be resolved,” Vodacom said.
Once all Cell C links to the Vodacom network had been terminated, normal service was restored to Vodacom customers.
Vodacom connected its 20-millionth subscriber in South Africa earlier in May and has a 57% market share in the country.
Outside of China, India and the United States, Vodacom South Africa is now the second-largest company by customers in the Vodafone Group, larger even than Vodafone United Kingdom. — Sapa and I-Net Bridge